Dark Fire Heart
by NellieLovet
Summary: After Marian's return Regina is been missing for a week. Almost no one believes it wasn't part of a greater evil plan to be with Robin. It is Emma's duty to find her and demonstrate her innocence before someone decides to end the former Queen's life. But who will stop then the true greater evils lurking in the shadows? - Post S3 Finale but no Frozen, very eventual SwanQueen
1. Chapter 1

"You. You did this?"

"I just wanted to save her life."

"You're just like your mother, never thinking of consequences."

"I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't. Well, you just better hope you didn't bring anything else back."

* * *

Those last words still linger on her mind, stabbing her with the cold memory of losing yet another True Love.

A broken sigh escapes her lips as she descends from her heels, her feet finally meeting flat ground. Regina's hand reaches for an empty glass and a bottle of cider. The scene at Granny's has been repeating in her mind since then, that dreadful night were her happiness was stolen one more and, hopefully, last time. The last time indeed, because she will not look for it again. It had been so long since she felt _real _love that she had forgotten also how much it hurts when an idiot decides to do something that would, _accidentally_, crush it just before her eyes.Crushed like the countless hearts she has and should have. She doesn't know why she bothers to hope anymore in the first place.

The liquid touches her lips. It is soft and sweet, like a hug from an old friend. Apple-trees were her refuge in the past and it seems they will be in the future. Her only friends. There is no one else.

The door bell rings. She sighs.

Days have passed since Marian came back from the dead to find that her -so she thought- dead husband was merrily seeing the one supposed to have killed her decades ago, the Evil Queen. Their happy little family was reunited thanks to the Savior and no one would ever believe it was not her fault. She _did _kill Marian in the past but not on the _purpose_ of stealing her husband, was it? For all she cared back then, it had been Snow White's fault.

"Well, it does not matter anymore, does it?" she sighs out loud before taking another sip of her cider. Hers is the only voice she has heard ever since.

* * *

"Emma, you have to do something. She is hurting, she doesn't know that _we know_ she is innocent. I need to talk to her. Please. Please."

"She actually killed her, kid."

They are at Snow and David's place, sat at their not-so-comfortable sofa while deciding what to do next. Regina has been missing for a week now and no one in town is willing to help them find the former Madame Mayor. They want the Sheriff to do it, of course, but not out of pity or comprehension. They fear her.

"I know, but... It was in another past." Henry insists for the nth time. "And... and she did not even knew it! I mean, how could she possibly know that it was the wife of the boyfriend she was bound to meet like, I dunno, thirty years later? She knew her true love would be someone with a lion tattoo but... _still_..."

"I know," she caresses his cheek and pats his shoulder. " I shouldn't have brought her back."

"Oh... Emma... you saved her life. That is not something to regret." Snow places a hot cup of tea in her hands and a warm look in her eyes. "You couldn't have known either."

Emma sighs and looks down at the black liquid. The guilt is eating her alive. There is nothing wrong on saving someone, of course, but she was bound to die anyway. She can't help but wonder: was it really worth it? Her boy's mom is missing, probably thinking everybody hates her.

She remembers having a cup with the Queen days ago, after Zelena had been encarcelated and the world seemed to go back somewhere where they both could coexist and be parents to Henry together. Real parents, not the fighting kind. She had not told her she was thinking about returning to New York, but that was not a topic for that moment. It was a truce. A real one.

And she has screwed it up.

"She has changed," the Savior finally nods, "but the kid's right: she doesn't know we think that. I've texted her, called her, but she does not answer her phone."

David places little Neal in her mother's arms and sits beside her on the couch. He has not spoken since the topic began. His face, though, reflects all the hatred a protective parent could have for someone who had stole their first born in the past.

"Have you been to her vault? Maybe she is there." Snow says with high-pitched tone and a broad smile meant only for her second child.

"She's not for days. Her father's flowers were withered." Emma sighs again.

Henry does too as two silent tears run down his cheeks. His hope fades further each passing day and that is something even the blindest can notice. The fear in his face was always there, hoping his mom won't suddenly go crazy and kill everyone or something. Henry isn't alone on that thought but one can never know. It is Regina they are talking about, after all.

"You will find her. And she will understand, I'm sure. Don't lose your hope. I know she is been..."

"Evil?" David points out, unabled to hold himself any longer. "Because she was and I can bet she still is, Snow."

"Grandpa!" Henry sobs.

"It's the truth."

"No, it isn't! Maybe she did want once to kill us, David, but you know this town has changed her. How could you say something like that?" the deep hurt eyes of Snow look up at him. "We must have hope. You know that has served us both in this realm _and _the other."

"I am just saying. Once evil it's hard to go back."

"You're wrong!" his grandson yells suddenly, standing on his feet.

"Henry!" his mother tries to calm him down by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"He is wrong," he cries. "I know it. Emma, please. Please, find her. Find her, explain it to her, bring her home and prove him wrong!"

"I've tried, kid." she sighs, standing too. "But, even if I did..."

"Then let me go with you! You hurt her, she will listen to me. Please, I _know _she will!"

"I know I hurt her. I wish I hadn't. I wish she would understand that, I wish everyone would see what we see, that she _is _innocent." She kneels before him and looks him right in the eyes. "But they don't."

"And I don't think she will come out until then." Snow says, caressing the soft cheek of her new born. "We've talked to them, but they won't listen. They're too scared to see that she has already chosen good instead evil."

"Then try harder! Isn't she family? Isn't family supposed to be together? How is she ever going to know? How are we supposed to protect her if she is not with us?"

"Of-of course she is family," Emma stutters and looks at her parents. David makes a face. He doesn't agree but says nothing. "No one wants to take you back to your mom harder than I do, believe me, but I _can't _find her. I've tried everything. If she doesn't want to be found... well... you know your mom, kid, no one ever will."

"Then _I_ will." he steps back, determined. "And you will apologize, and everything will be ok."

The thirteen-year-old keeps moving back, slowly, until he is far enough, and then he runs before anyone can stop him.

"Henry!" Emma calls but it is too late. She sighs.

"I can't believe you saidthat, David. He is our _grandson_, he deserves some credibility and respect, don't you think? It was _his _believing what broke the first curse! _And _the second!"

"I only told him the truth!"

"But it _isn't_!"

And thus a heated discussion begins between the two elder Charmings. Their daughterlets out a frustated sigh before following the path Henry has taken. By the time she reaches the street he is long gone. She knew he would be. Maybe keeping him apart from the search was not a wise decision after all. She isn't worried about that, anyway. He's done that before. A lot. In fact, even if it is wrong to use one's son as bait, she knows Regina would never allow anything bad happen to him. The Sheriff is sure that somewhere, somehow, the Queen is keeping an eye on him.

_Where could she be?_, Emma wonders watching the town folk walk by.

In the other side of the street Robin and his found -and so much modern- wife walk along with their son. They seem happy, so happy it stings her heart a little bit to know that, unknowingly, she stole that from Regina. She can't blamed her for hiding, Emma would have also done so if her True Love found another soul mate.

_But I would hide at home with a bottle of whatever I could find_. _I've been there, no one answered the door. Maybe I should try the... back door?_

She surely hadn't tried that before. Breaking into someone else's apartment was as much as her past life's as it had been Marian of Regina's. Maybe not the best comparison to make in front of this last one, though.

She sits into the Bug and rotates the key. After a while, her old friend finally cooperates. Fortunately the mansion is not that far away and traffic is almost not existent. It appears that the fairytales' characters prefere to walk rather than drive. She can't blame them. A sad smile appears on her lips at the memory of the Enchanted Forest. How deeply had she missed the Real World a week ago.

The mansion looks abandoned when she finally arrives. The garden has not been taken care of and the windows seem dirty enough for a week of bad weather. Henry was right. It certainly is strange for someone as maniac with cleanliness and order as Regina is.

She has tried before. She is been at her door every afternoon since the incident. What does her believe it will different now? She does not know. But she has to insist, even if it is not for her, but for Henry.

The Sheriff takes a deep breath and rings the bell. A long minute passes, nothing happens. She tries once more and the another one. Still nothing.

She sighs.

"This is stupid."

She is about to turn away when the sudden image of a crying Henry fills her mind. She swears under her breath.

"Regina?" she yells looking at the door. "If you are in there open the door."

Five minutes pass. The Sheriff can't take this nonsense any longer. O.K., so Regina is hurt, does that give her the right to ignore every person who still cares for her in this town?

Maybe she felt guilty before, maybe her embarresment was enough to keep her from doing everything on her hand to reach her. After all, if Regina does not want to see her, who's the Sheriff to make her? It is not illegal. But does Henry really deserve this?

"Nope, he doesn't" she resolves walking to the back gate and forcing her way in.

Emma looks around. The back yard is in no best shape that the front one. The grass is taller than the regal Queen would ever allow. The apple tree, on the other hand...

She smiles walking to the porch. She tries the back door, and it opens. The former Mayor would never leave it open if she weren't home.

_Got'cha._

Inside the mansion is cold and dark but no sign of dust is to be found. It is as neat as ever. She is here, she can feel it.

"Regina!" she yells. "Regina, I know you're in here."

Emma walks through the over-arrenged rooms until she reaches the main hall looking for her.

"I need to talk to you." she insists.

"But I do not want to, Miss Swan."

The cold voice of the Queen startles the Sheriff. Emma turns around and catches a glimpse of her in the balcony of the upper floor. She takes a step.

"Regina."

"Leave. Immediately."

"I'm sorry."

"And I am sure you are. If that is all you had to say, Sheriff, you have trespassed my propierty in vain. Now leave."

"I am serious." She takes another step.

A wry snort cames from the shadow upstairs.

"I didn't mean for this to happen!" she continues even if she knows that the woman won't listen to her. She has to try. For Henry.

"You didn't mean what, my dear? To destroy my happiness everytime I find any? I would be touched if this wasn't the fifth time you or your family do this to me."

Her mask falls for a second and the pain filters to her voice. Emma is close enough now to see her. Surprisingly enough she seems alright. Her make up is perfect, her black dress impecable and her face is the one of a Queen. A perfect mask, once again.

"Here's the thing: I know I hurt you, and I am sorry. If only I could go back and tell myself that... that she was... you have to believe me, Regina. I didn't want this. Why would I?"

The former Mayor does not answer immediately, her eyes fixed on the bottom of the empty glass on her hand. Emma _knew _she couldn't be that different from the rest of the world.

"Regina..." Emma whispers. "Henry misses you, we all miss you."

"You all miss me?" she laughs and her voice comes out bitter and sad. "Your skills at lying are just as bad as your parenting ones, dear. I heard what they said, I saw the look in my son's face, Miss Swan. I know what he thought."

"But he didn't! He is looking for you. Ok, maybe not _all _the town believes you're innocent in this one. Can't blame them, right? But what's the point of hiding when your family is looking for you?"

"Family? What family? The one you keep stealing from me?" Regina turns around and walks into the shadows. Emma follows her without, not giving up.

"Listen to me, if there was _anything_ I could do to make this up to you, if there were -"

"Would you kill her?" Regina interrupts her stopping in the middle of the corridor and turning to look at her. A ray of sun breaks through the courtains to light her calm expression.

"What?"

"Would you kill her, Miss Swan?" she archs a brow. "You said you would do _anything_. You heard him, you heard what he said."

_"Don't Robin me. How could you lie to me like this? You knew, I know you knew from the very beggining. You are indeed the Evil Queen, Regina."_

The words are hard to forget. She had tried so desperately to try make him understand that, for the first time ever, everyone had been able to see a part of her that was only meant for Robin and Henry. She hadn't mean to. That was _weakness_.

"Would you _kill _her?" Emma just looks at her, shocked. "I thought so." And the Queen resumes her gracious walking.

Emma bits her lower lip but still follows her.

"I can't do that."

"Then you are of no use to me."

"Henry still misses you."

"Does he?" and her tone states she doesn't believe her.

"Of course he does, you are his mom."

"A fact you have tried very hard for him to forget."

"That's... not anymore. We called it a truce, remember? At Granny's, that morning..."

"That truce was betrayed twice that same day, Miss Swan. Do you expect me to forget that you were going to take him to New York, away from me at the very first chance you got? I am not as gullible as they are, my dear."

"We're not going anywhere. Not anymore. We are staying in Storybrooke."

"Yes, I'm sure you are."

"ENOUGH!"

She has got enough. Enough of the sarcasm and selfpitiness.

She takes her arm and forces her to turn. At first Regina seems impressed and a little shocked, caught off guard, but the mask rapidly slips on again. The indeference mask that is driving the Savior mad.

"He _misses _you, he does, and we _are _staying. He's just as stubborn as you are, you know? He's ran away just to find you and now he's missing too, so take your ass downstairs becauseyou and I are going to find him!"

Regina pulls her arm free, her lips trembling with fury as she studies the face of the Sheriff with a wary look.

"How dare you." she hisses steping back and grabbing the door to her studdy. "You have said enough lies for a day. Oh, and don't you worry. I know you only came here to see if I would seek revenge, but I won't. See yourself out of _my _house, Sheriff, and don't come back ever again. Because, if you do... well, I might have a swan's heart for dinner."

"Regina..."

"Don't. I saw Henry talking about the docks. You will find him there. Now leave me alone."

And with a flick of her hand the door closes and Emma finds herself out.

_I **really **hope I didn't bring anything else from the past_, she thinks with an exasperated sigh.

* * *

They were ugly, disgusting creatures. Their purpose was no other than to disturb peasants, stealing their valuables like the evil magpies they were. Fortunately, that was just what she needed; a magpie. Someone who could obtain for her the last, hardest ingredient, something so difficult to be found that even seers needed months just to find a remnant of it in the traces of the future: the first thread of light on the heart of a dark soul.

But trolls... They only cared about precious things, bright things to trade with. What they really used them for was none of her business, anyway. What mattered was their cheap usefulness.

She placed the money on the bridge barrier, enough gold for a poor family to live for a month but just a caprice for a powerful witch like herself. She waited. Did they even know how valuable was the item they were dealing with?

"I summon thee."

A silent minute passed in the Troll Bridge, a bridge far, far away from her home. Luckily for her too, the witch that reigned over the lands she stood on was her friend. She couldn't imagine how much trouble she would go into if they weren't, if the Evil Queen came to know her _little _affairs with the trolls. That jealous friend of hers would surely rip her heart out in a matter of seconds and force her to submit the rare thread of light. She trembled.

Two musty hands reached the top of the stone barrier, closely followed by two other pairs. The three wet trolls jumped over and looked at her. One of them took the coins and, slowly as he were, counted them.

"This is half you promised."

Maleficent smiled.

"I will pay the rest upon delivery. Do you have what I requested?" she asked confidently, supporting on her draconic staff.

"We do."

"Good. Were there any problems?"

Not asking would be just rude, wouldn't it?

"Snow White." One of them said. His simple eyes lighted up with hatred. "And a prince."

"Snow White... who would have guessed _that_?" she laughed.

"They had dark fairy dust, they threatened us. We escaped. We would have been killed."

"Oh, I'm glad you were not. Now, give me the light thread." She extended her hand.

"Not so fast. Snow White raises the price."

Trolls were such crybabies when performing simple tasks. Any reason was good enough to raise the price. Stories were told about sunny days being one of their many stupid ones.

"Of course, of course..." she sighed.

The only female troll showed her the thread, floating sulkily on a muddy jar.

"Double it."

"I will quadruple it" she answered, "if you tell me what happened exactly with that _annoying_ girl."

The trolls looked at each other, and they smiled.

* * *

It is not the first time Henry has escaped from somewhere. In fact, he has done so repeatedly. Running through the shadows so no one would see him, climbing sheets up and down just to be back on time, he even asked his teacher -Mary Margaret, back then- for her credit cart just to find his real mother, his _birth _mother. But it is certainly the first time he has done anything alike to be with his _adoptive_ mother.

Henry runs to her favorite places, her secret places, the mausoleum, he even dares to look inside The Rabbit Hole and the dark alley behind it. His mom is nowhere to be found, though.

_People hides in the last place where they think anyone could find them, don't they? Where would my mom hide...?_

The wet tongue of Pongo licking his hands distracts him, barking happily to get his deserved attention.

"Hey, buddy" he greets caressing the dog's head playfully. Pongo barks.

"What are you doing here, Henry?" a concerned Archie asks after having seeing him coming out of the bar. "This is no place for children." The cricket looks up to the Rabbit's Hole's sign with a disgusted smile. He still remembers the Valentine's Day back when the first curse was still active. It has changed for the worse since then.

"I'm... I'm looking for my mom..." he admits shyly. "I thought she might be here but... she isn't."

"I see." He sighs and smiles softly. "Don't worry, Henry. She will be fine. Regina, she has always been... Well, she's a complicated woman. Maybe this is good for her, you know? Maybe she just needs to be alone and have some time for herself. A lot of harsh things have happened lately. Just think of it: losing you for a year, her sister Zelena trying to kill us all, then Marian reappeared... to think about what she's-_happened_" he quickly corrects, "may be what she needs and... she'll see who is really there for her. She surely just needs time to process things but... she will come around, I'm sure. You are what she loves most, remember?" He places a reassuring hand on Henry's shoulder. The kid nods silently.

"You were her therapist for a long time, she trusted you. Maybe you know where she may be hiding?"

"Have you tried her vault?"

"Yep."

"Her house? The town hall?"

"Both, she's not there. I've also been to the well in the woods. I've looked everywhere this week but I was hoping to look in less likely places today... I've been to the woods, to Zelena's house, to the mines, Toll Bridge..."

As the list goes on and on Archie begins to realize in how much danger this kid could get in. Henry has demonstrated before the deep roots for stubborness and sometimes lack of thinking of his family.

"I-I'm sorry, Henry. Why don't you go home? I'm sure Emma will find her eventually."

"You believe her, don't you? You _know _my mom wouldn't do something like that."

The therapist doubts for a moment. He sighs. He is afraid of her powers, just as anyone else, but after treating the Queen for thirty years he can hardly say a change on that woman has not happened.

"Of course I believe her, Henry."

"Then help me, _please_. She thinks we all hate her. I've been trying to think of a place I haven't looked in yet but... OH! That's it!" he smiles. "The docks. She hated my secret place, I don't even remember seeing her there since the Home Office. She _must _be there. C'mon!"

Archie can't say no to those bright eyes full of hope. And he still remembers what happened at the mines the last time no one heard him. Not helping him would only lead to disastrous consequences.

"Henry! Wait!"

* * *

The sun is low in the sky when Emma finally finds them sitting in the wharf. She breaths, relieved.

"Hey!" she greets jogging towards them.

"Oh, Emma, thank goodness" Archie gasps, perking up.

"What's happened to you?" she frowns. "You two look awful."

Archie's jersey has been ripped in several places and his shirt is showing out of his pants, both full of the kind of fuel spots that won't be easy to wash out. His hair and face are dirty too, his glasses seem a little bit off their usual axis. Henry is not better.

Pongo barks quietly from his lying position between the two of them, his head resting tired on the floor.

"We were looking for my mom." Henry answers with an unfriendly stare.

"He's taken me inside boats, below the wharfs, inside the cannery storeroom..." the poor therapist starts listing, almost begging her to make her son stop running.

"Wow, wow, wow, wait a minute there, you let him inside the cannery? I thought you were some kind of good conscience, not the devilish one!"

"I tried to -"

"That was my fault." Henry interrupts him. "He was only trying to help me. He told me no to got to those places but..."

"You didn't listen." Emma sighs. "I'm sorry, Archie. Thank you for taking care of Henry."

"I-It's okay, Sheriff."

Emma nods and Henry asks:

"How did you find us?"

Emma smiles softly and pats her child's shoulder.

"Regina told me, kid. She heard you say something about it. Through one of her weird mirrors, I'd guess."

"You saw her!?" he stands up as fast as a thunder. "Where!?"

"Was she alright?" Dr Hopper stands up too, relieved that the run-after-Henry nightmare is over.

"Not... quite. I dropped by the mansion, just in case. She did not answer the door, so I went through the back one. She was in there, upstairs, crying over a glass of that apple liquor of hers. Wouldn't believe me when I told her some of us still believe she didn't do it, though."

"That's cider. She loves cider, you know." Henry states looking at her with that same tired look Regina used to give when she would say something wrong, back before the time travel. "Then I have to go there, I have to see her. Maybe if I talk to her then..."

"Hey, not that fast, kid."

Emma's hand intercedes in his new running attempt, stoping him just in time.

"But I have to go see her!"

"I'm way ahead of you on that. Tomorrow you'll crash there. Until then, you're grounded, young man."

"What? Why!"

"Do I have to explain it? Really?" Emma archs a brow staring at him, then at his ruined clothes. "Plus, we still have to convince her. Get in the car. Archie, you too. I'll take you home. Would you later come with me to Regina's and...?"

"Yes, yes, of course."

"Great. Let's go."

* * *

"He's crashing on the couch tonight."

"I don't know, Snow... are you sure this is not just the lack of sleep talking? Babies can be... well... babies" Ruby wides her eyes after a deep, deep breath.

Saturday dinner at Granny's has become kind of a traidition for the Charming's family and almost every friend of them. The place usually boils with life that night of the week because, you know what they say: there's no party without a dwarf on the karaoke. And dwarves have discovered they _love _karaokes.

However, today it seems dead. Just a couple of souls wander in the tables, silently drinking their problems. Since last week's celebration about Zelena's defeat and Marian's return, the town has fallen apart into some different groups, most of them inciting heated arguments about wether or not taking action concerning the "Regina issue", as they have been calling them. Most of those groups are harmless, but there is nothing to celebrate.

"I... I know" Snow sighs. "But he was so... _mean_, you know? Like... he doesn't care at all if Regina lives or dies. I know he almost had her killed, _once _a long time ago, but he eventually came to his senses. Killing her would be... He's been there to defend her ever since the Curse broke. I just don't know what's _wrong _with him!" she exclaims, dropping her arms heavily upon the encounter.

"He cares about Neal, sweetheart," Granny, who has been cleaning around and picking up every now and then on their little chat, states shaking the cleaning rag in front of them while keeping the other hand at her hip, bossy-like, "and nothing will ever change that."

"We have hurt each other, Granny, but she is been there during my pregnancy. Why would he ever fear she hurting our little boy?" almost without noticing, she rests her hand on the sleeping little one. "She stood to her own sister trying to stop that wicked witch from hurting us."

"He is a real father now." The elder answers.

"Maybe he needs to _feel_ he is a father, you know?" Ruby says, taking her best friend's hand. "You didn't get that chance with Emma."

"Maybe but... he's still sleeping on the couch tonight." Snow smiles shyly and both her and Ruby laugh together.

"Talking about Emma, how's she? How's Henry? Have they found Regina yet?"

"Oh, yes, they have! She's been all this time inside her house. Thanks." She adds when Ruby finally puts her chocolate in front of the -now in parent leave- teacher.

"Really?"

"Yeah. She didn't want to talk with anybody. Emma and Archie have been to her place this evening to talk her out but... apparently she was... drinking."

"She was _drunk_?" Ruby exclaims, incredulous. From the other side of the counter Granny shakes her head, disappointed.

"No! Not drunk... I don't know. Tipsy? Maybe? They said her magic kept changing her drink."

"Why? Didn't she noticed?"

Mary Margaret shrinks and tastes her chocolate, then shakes her head.

"She didn't want to talk to them, not at first, not with Emma there. She left her with Archie for a therapy session and went to Mr Gold's. Rumplestilskin said she might be losing control over her magic because of the last... _events_. Something about light and dark fighting over which takes control within her heart. Supposedly the easiest magic spell consists in transforming liquids and moving objects from place to place, so..."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Now the Evil Queen's place is also haunted? Creepy."

"Red!" Snow exclaims but smiles. "Don't call her that."

"Sorry," the werewolf grins. "Old habits die hard."

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway... Henry will sleep there tomorrow. He's grounded until then."

"Do you think it's safe? I mean, with her magic going crazy and all that."

"Regina would never hurt him. Being with him will only help her calm down. Mr Gold said she needs to get distracted from her own thoughts for a while."

"Should we trust him?"

"I guess not... completely, at least. But he wouldn't do soemthing that could upset Belle," and they both share a look of understanding. Some secrets are better off unspoken. "and Belle believes Regina."

"Here." Dr Whale, who has been sitting on a table near them for a while, approaches and hands Ruby the money for his coffee.

"Perfect." She smiles.

"Goodnight, ladies." He bows his head before leaving the dinner, hiding a wicked smile.


	2. Chapter 2

_I forgot to write this in the first chapter, so here it goes:_

**DISCLAIMER: NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.**

_I'm so happy about all the positive feedback I've received! Even if most of them where following warnings, it meant a lot to me. You can't imagine my surprise =D You guys/girls amazed me, really! I hope you all are enjoying this as much as I am. Don't be afraid to leave a review or a comment about whatever you don't (or do) like if you feel like it. I write because I like to, but it is your feedback what keeps this alive ^^_

* * *

"SHE IS WHAT!?"

"Alive. Snow White is alive."

The Evil Queen was pacing around as a wild tiger, her eyes glowing with the dark, purple magic that flowed through her veins, screaming what she was going to do to that stupid, foolish girl once she got her locked back in the dungeon.

Maleficent sighed with delight, making herself comfortable in the Queen's chaise longue and following her with her eyes.

Any other person would be trembling on their knees and begging for their lives at the sight of the Evil Queen's violent outrages. Maleficent, however, was accustomed to Regina's fury when it came to Snow White getting away from one of her stepmother's many traps. Of course, the Queen was aware enough of her own weaknesses to let her rage out where anyone could see it. Still, the enormous feeling of betrayal she had was enough to make her easily manipulated. She herself knew that, and so the only ones allowed to be present during one of her frenzies were a selected few she could trust. A few Maleficent was proud to be part of. Once the fury was gone only coldness would remain. And the Evil Queen's coldness was what made her as dangerous as a dragon.

"I KILLED her. I killed her MYSELF. I _saw_ her BURN. I _have_ her _ashes_ in my vault!"

"Then I'm afraid the only thing you have there is nothing but wood ashes."

A fire ball got away from the Queen's hand and impacted near her only friend. Luckily, no harm was done.

"Calm down, dear. There's still so much you can do to her, so much pain you can inflict to her."

"Calm down, you say!? Calm down when I FINALLY GOT MY HAPPY ENDING."

"You didn't. But you will. And this one will be so much greater and pleasant than the other one."

The witch's smiled like a dragon. Her calm tone was infuriating and, somehow, was forcing her to actually calm down and keep her control at the same time. Regina felt her hands burning to destroy something.

"How did she do it? How did she escape? Tell me!"

"The trolls said something about her having dark fairy dust. She threatened them but... I'm sure she was bluffing."

"Oh, she was. She tried to use it in me, but she couldn't. She couldn't because..." the sudden realization made her growl. "That _insolent_, consented stupid girl! I'm going to skin her alive next time I lay my hands on her!"

"Calm down, Regina, dear. We'll make her pay for what she's done to you. Don't worry. I know just how."

"Do you?"

"Yes, and you _will _love it."

* * *

"Are you ready, kid?"

Emma is waiting at the door of her parents loft with a coffee to go in her right hand and a marked newspaper in the other. They're going to visit some new apartments before going to Regina's.

"Are you sure you don't want me...?"

"It's okay, Mary Margaret, really." Emma frowns at the realization that she keeps calling her _Mary Margaret_, even when she's come to accept that she actually is her mother. "I have to get finish with this... thing," she points to the newspaper, "and it is better for Henry, too. If he thinks we are hiding something from him again... And I'm sure you'll manage pretty fine. Plus, they won't go mad with a baby there, right?" she looks at her little brother and smiles, a flash of Henry as a baby on her mind.

"I... guess." Snow frowns.

"Who won't go mad?" Henry approaches them with a big smile, certainly thrilled with the idea of finally finding a place of their own from where his birth mother can't run away to New York.

"Um..." Emma searches for Snow's eyes, not knowing what to say that's not the whole truth.

"David and Mr Gold, honey." Smiles his grandmother almost naturally. "We're going down to the pawnshop to buy Emma's nursery's unicorn mobile."

Her daughter keeps staring at her, unbelieving. When did she ever get that _good _at lying?

"That's great!" he says cheerfully. "Shall we go? Emma?"

"What? Ah, oh, yes, of course."

* * *

Regina's eyes flutter open at the sunlight entering through her parlor's windows. She yawns discreetly and sits up, looking around. Archie is soundly asleep in the armchair. The strange sleeping-grimace of his face is something she would rather unsee, if she could.

She yawns again and leaves the room trying no to wake him up. They must have fallen asleep last night while talking, but she doesn't recall seeing him asleep at all. Then why is he still here? Well, she doesn't recall much, either way.

She opens every courtain in her way to the kitchen. Knowing the bigmouths the Charmings are the whole town must know by now that she has been in her house ever since that night at Granny's. She sighs. The yard is looking as bad as she had wished to so the mansion looked empty. Now that they probably know, she doesn't even know how to fix it without using magic, and she promised Henry she wouldn't do it unless necessary.

The coffee machine beeps in the kitchen. She pauses it, looks for a mug and takes the pitcher.

"Good morning!" Archie greets, startling her. Before she is able to stop it, the black liquid is turn to white. Milk, plain milk. "Sorry." He mutters.

"Don't be, Dr Hopper." She roughly says leaving the mug in the kitchen table, right in fron of him. "It was for you."

"Oh." He scratches his head, yawning in a way that Regina finds mainly disgusting, and takes the nearest sit to the mug. "So... how are you feeling?"

"Disgusted." Is her succintc answer as she pours some tea for herself.

"Why?"

"You are still here, in _my _house, and I do not know why."

"Oh, come on, Regina." Far from hurt, he seems amused. "I'm just trying to take care of you. I told you last night; - "

"Oh, yes, that." The former Queen harshly interrupts him. "I don't even recall _you_ falling asleep before I did, so _why _are you still in _my _house?"

"I'm telling you," he says with a nervous smile. "I-I'm taking care of you... I thought..."

"_You _thought?" she replies with a mocking smile, one that soon turns to a wicked one. "Don't even _dare _to lie to me, cricket. Spit it out."

"They... there's a meeting today at the Town Hall," he swallows, not even daring to look at her in the eye, "and they are going to talk about you."

"So you're not taking care of me," it is not a question, but a mere statement, "you are babysitting me."

"Well, _technically_ I _am _taking care of you."

"So I do not, what? Go over there and kill everybody?"

"Calm down, Regina." Dr Hopper's eyes are fixed on her hands.

They have been trembling without Regina noticing, and now her tea is sand. She leaves out an angry growl before levaing her mug in the sink.

"I can take care of myself."

"I don't doubt that."

"They are going to talk about executioning me, aren't they?" Archie says nothing. "I would too if I had seen the weak spot of the _Evil Queen._"

She speaks of herself with hatred, as if letting out what she feels is the worst thing that could have ever happened to her. And this is not something her therapist is unaware of. It has been her main problem since the first session. Getting her to talk about her past... well, that has been the toughest thing Dr Hopper has ever done, even tougher than convincing Leroy to drink just a little bit less than he used to.

"There is nothing wrong in showing you care, Regina. You are not the Evil Queen anymore."

"I did _not _know it was Robin's wife, back then."

"I know."

"I should have erased everyone's memories that very moment." Her words slip between her teeth like a hiss.

"You still can, but the fact that you didn't, that it doesn't even _cross_ your mind to use your magic to erase Robin's memory of Marian, or hers of Robin... _that_ is the best prove of how much you have changed." He calmly states, putting his own hand over hers, softly.

She is upset, that much is clear, but she's also staring at him with suspiciousness all over her face, looking from his eyes to their hands over the table. He awkwardly takes it back.

"I'm not your friend, Dr Hopper."

"I know."

"Good. Now go tell your_ friends_ all about it and _leave. me. alone_."

He nods and finishes his milk before standing and leaving without saying another word.

* * *

It seems like the whole town has been waiting for this event. Everybody is at the Town Hall, just everybody. When Mary Margaret and David arrive there is so much people there, waiting around the building, that one would think it impossible to fit them all in.

"Do you think this is the right thing to do?" she asks her husband, staring with anxiety to the group of people assembled in fron of the Town Hall's entrance.

"We need to discuss this." He says before kissing her cheek tenderly. "It will be alright."

"There shouldn't be anything to discuss, though." Snow frowns.

"If we don't they might kill her anyway."

David was right. It was obvious who were the most outraged ones; they stood together, near the front doors visibly angry. If they didn't stop this madness...

She swallows.

"It will be alright." He says again, pressing softly her hand. "Come on. Let's go."

David takes her and their baby through the crowd and into the Town Hall. The meeting room soon fills and it takes a while to calm everyone down. Everybody is there. With just one look they can Red, Granny, Aurora, Phillip, Ashley, Sean, the dwarves, Marco, August, even Captain Hook. Some of them are standing, there are not enough sits for everyone. The last to arrive are Robin Hood, Marian, Roland and their Merry Men.

Snow White looks worried at her husband, and he gives her a reassuring smile.

"Well," he starts, "we are here today to discuss and fix the..." he closes his eyes just a moment, before sighing and letting it go, "the... '_Evil Queen issue_'." He can almost feel the gaze Snow must be stabbing him with right now. "It has come to my attention that there is someone in town spreading the belief that she is dangerous and should be killed. Well, let me make this very clear: _no one is killing nobody_."

"But she is dangerous!" a woman cries and the murmurs become discussions.

"She isn't." Says Mary Margaret. "She has helped us."

"She _cursed _us. She is the reason why I had to let go my little boy all those years..." says Marco. "And you two, your daughter!"

"I know but - " she is interrupted by another man.

"If it wasn't for her, Zelena would have never come and we wouldn't have been cursed, _again_."

"She saved Roland back in the Enchanted Forest!"

"And she killed his mother!"

* * *

"I like this one!" Henry says staring out the window with a broad smile. "I can see the clock tower from here."

"And it is near the station, too." Emma adds waving her head, thinking about it. "But isn't it too small for us?"

Henry shakes his head and crosses his arms over the sill of the window to bear his chin. The soft breeze caresses his cheeks warmly. He lets out a happy sigh.

"I think this one's perfect."

"Good."

Emma nods and half-smiles to Mr Gold. He nods too and the three of them go to the kitchen. There, Belle is taking care of all the paperwork they are going to take care of before they can rent the loft.

"So, how much will it be?" Emma asks bluntly.

"I think you'll find it... reasonable," Mr Gold gives them a small smile bringing the paper over the table to them with his fingers before calmly resting his hands in his cane, "for a Sheriff's wage."

"Hmm..." she mutters looking at the cipher.

"Emma?" Henry asks, worried.

"You don't have to answer now." Belle reassures them. "We can hold this one for you for a week."

"No, it's okay," Emma nods. "I think I can do it. Yeah."

"Cool!" Henry exclaims hugging her waist as she takes Belle's pen to sign the papers. "When can we move in?"

"Anytime you want."

"Great!"

"Wellcome to your new home!" Belle stands up and shakes their hands with a beautiful smile.

"Thanks!" Henry replies and Emma smiles. "Wait, should I call you grandma too or something?"

Belle smiles confused.

"You know, because Mr Gold is now my grandparent and you two have married now, so..."

"N-Not if you don't want to, I suppose..." Belle frowns but her smile never leaves her lips.

"We should go, now." Mr Gold interyiels taking the papers from the table before limping to the door.

"Yes," Belle looks at the Sheriff, "we... we have to deliver this at the Town Hall before noon so..."

"Oh, yeah, of course. Thank you."

The librarian nods and, giving Henry another smile, follows her husband out.

"Awkward." Says Henry once they are alone.

"What did you expect?" His mother laughs. "You just called the poor girl _grandmother._"

Henry shrugs.

"I've always been an adopted kid, you know? I felt lonely until Mary Margaret gave me that book and I found you and suddenly we have this big family... I want all of us to be together. It is _family _what has changed both Mr Gold and my mom."

Emma sighs hugging him, looking around their new apartment knowing there is too much her son should not know, and should have not experienced. She can almost see their new place filled with laughter and visitors and Thanks Giving dinner, and it is as thrilling as terrifying.

"I know how you feel, kid."

* * *

The discussions are starting to scalate into heated arguments were the pro-killing are clearly winning. It is the heavy blow of the door what silences everybody. Much to their relieve it is not the Evil Queen, just Dr Whale.

Dr Whale and his maniac gaze.

"She _is_ dangerous, Ms Blanchard," he says, approaching the Charming family with wide steps. "Everybody, listen to me! The Evil Queen has lost control of her magic. She could burn this town down to ashes with a blink of her eye."

"No!" Mary Margaret almost whispers, dissapointed.

"I say: kill her _now_, safe our tomorrow!"

"I cannot believe you are the one behind all of this." It is Prince Charming who says this, stepping to him.

"Is it true? Is her magic unleashed?" an afraid Ashley asks, holding tighter to her baby girl.

"She is, but not that way," Snow tries to abate her worry, "she is not dangerous. She's going through a harsh phase, that is all. Mr Gold said..."

"Yes! Mr Gold, " the doctor smiles, wickedly, turning to the couple that had joined the meeting just minutes before him, "what did you say?"

Everybody turns to them, and Belle looks to her husband, pressing his arm softly. He doesn't need to look at her to know what she is asking of him. The truth.

"She is having an internal fight about light and dark," Rumplestilskin states, "and this battle also affects her... _magic._"

"If she was to help us, to be _good_, she would not have this 'battle'!" Dr Whale blurts out and lifts his hands. "She would have already chosen _good_, as all of us did!"

"She is struggling because she _wants_ to change!" Snow yells. "She wants to be good just like all of us," and she can hear Hook snorting, "but she is hurting too. She has suffered as much as we have."

"That's no excuse for what she's done." Says Marco and Whale smiles at her.

"I know it's not, but she is trying to -"

"Kill us. That's what she will do if we don't stop her now."

The shouts of support fill the room in just a matter of seconds. Half of the room is on their feet, moving towards the door. The other half looks confused, but almost everybody agrees to the decission. There only remains a few neutrals.

"Then kill Snow White too."

Everybody stops and turns to look shocked at Prince Charming's reply.

"David!" Mary Margaret exclaims. In her arms little Neal lets out a soft cry.

"What? Isn't that what this is about? You killed Regina's mother so you should be killed too." He shrugs.

"I can't believe you just said that." She whispers.

"She could come get revenge on you any moment. And we should kill Dr Whale too; he tends to bring back the dead as monsters. His last almost kills Henry. Oh, and it was Regina's fianceé, so... And we should also kill Marco, right? Because of treason. He fooled us, he said only one person could go through the wardrobe instead of two and sent his boy first. He was selfish enough to risk the Savior, our memories, our happy endings. He could do it again."

"David..." she sighs, partly relieved.

"What about Red? She is a werewolf. And the dwarves, only Graham knew how much time has Leroy spent in the cell."

"It is almost my second home!" he smiles full of proud.

"But if we did that," Snow continues, "what would be of this town? Who would remain? Haven't all we make some mistakes?"

"She killed Daniel, her first True Love." Whale replies once more, his voice filled with anger.

"No, she didn't. I did," she says, much for the shock of everyone, "I betrayed her and she became what she is now. And, even then, she was my mother."

"And then she tried to kill you."

"She _has _tried, that's true. But she has learnt to love since her curse broke. A curse that did not kill us, a curse that only made us forget with hated her. She's been like a mother to me ever since. It might seem hard to believe, Regina is a very complex woman but... she has tried. And she _has _changed."

"Dr Hopper," Belle speaks, stepping out of the crowd to address the therapist, "you saw her. You have treated her."

"I have."

"Your opinion is the best we have. Would you share it?"

"Of course." He smiles shyly. "Regina is indeed a complex woman, but she is not dangerous at all. She is trying, but she needs support. If we want her to be part of our community we have to give her _at least _the benefit of the doubt. She may be harsh to us, maybe even rough, but... this is the best chance we have."

"It is not. We could _end her life _and be done with all this nonsense!" the doctor yells but almost nobody listens.

"Snow, " Ruby asks, softly, "is it true? Do you think of her as your _mother_?" The red hooded girl can't believe it.

"I do.", Snow White replies lifting her chin. "She was there through my pregnacy, she protected me _and _my child from Zelena. She vanished her mother's spirit from my body, she even _forgave_ me for killing her. What kind of woman does that for the girl she has seen grow up if it is not a _mother_?"

The question flows in the air for a few moments. The silence is tense and full of thoughts, and it drives everybody back to their seats.

"That doesn't mean she is not dangerous!"

"Oh, shut up, Whale." Geppetto spits. "Snow White, you know that there is nothing I regret most that what I did to you when the Dark Curse was casted," he says, standing, "and I can't take that back."

"Oh, Geppetto... you know we hold no grudge." The Princess sighs with a smile.

"I know it is hard to believe us, I do," says Prince Charming, "but we must give her a second chance. A chance to _change_."

"You don't trust her, Nolan." Victor spits.

"I don't, but that doesn't mean I don't have _hope._" And then David looks to his wife and they smile, and that's enough to settle almost everybody's minds.

A second chance shall be given. Her _last _chance.

* * *

Dinner has never been so exciting for Henry. He is almost literally jumping in his chair, impatiently, eating as fast as a cheetah.

"Relax, kid!" Emma laughs. "You're going to choke if you keep eating that way. What would your mom say?"

"She'd say I eat just like the rest of my family." He smiles widely, staring at the three of them. David frowns, but the ladies laugh at the comment.

"Yeah, she would."

"Probably." Snow adds with a smile before looking back to her plate. She is been playing her food all dinner, not really eating.

There is something odd going between the former teacher and her husband. They are not sitting together as they alway do, not looking at each other with loving eyes and, most importantly; they are not sharing any kind of conversation. And Henry doesn't know why. He has asked, of course, but they would not answer. At least not directly. They said something about being tired and not being a big deal. They said he would understand when he grows up.

_What are they talking about? Why are they so weird?_

"Archie talked to Regina this morning," comments Emma after swallowing a big chunk of food.

"How was she?"

"Thrilled you are spending the night at her house."

"Thrilled? Regina?" David asks.

"Well... you know... as thrilled as she _can be_." She replies tilting her head to the side.

Henry smiles.

"So why are you guys coming over too?" he looks directly at his grandmother.

"Belle and I thought it could be a good idea to have a girl's night with her. To help her, you know, feel our care."

"And she needs a night off your nephew, too." Emma laughs, making her mother frown. "Don't worry, we totally understand."

"When you say it that way... it makes me feel like a bad mother..."

"Nobody thinks that."

The three adults fall into silence at David's words.

"So... why aren't you coming, Emma?" It is Henry who starts again, confused by the extrange reactions everybody seems to have around him today.

"We have a new apartment, remember? Someone has to do the moving thing. Your grandpa is helping me."

"You only have _three _boxes. We could drop them there in the way."

"There is an inventory to make, and... things... and..." Henry archs his brow in a very familiar fashion to a former villain they all have come to know pretty well. "... and... I don't think that's a good idea, kid."

"She's not going to kill you, you know..."

"But I'm sure she'll bite me if I come near enough!", she jokes but nobody laughs. "Anyway, I think she needs her time. It would be awkward. Yeah, let's give her some time."

"I'm going to prepare Neal's things," Snow clears her throat before standing and taking her dish to the sink, "David, would you come with me for a moment, please?"

Henry gives his birth mother a look at which she shrugs and looks away. Not long before the couple has disappeared into the bathroom, the yells start.

"Why are they fighting this time?" Henry sighs. "I thought True Love couples never fought..."

"There is so much beyond those fairytales, kid." She sighs. "You'll know all about it when you grow up, believe me."

Henry chugs.

"Yeah, sure. You always say that."

"Because it's true." Emma smiles. "Plus, it is not big deal, really. They're just tired. You know how much little Neal cries at night."

"I guess..."

"Anyway," she stands and takes the rest of the dishes, "help me with this and we can be on our way, ok?"

Henry sighs and nods, following her. A quick glance at the bathroom just confirms something is up with his family, he just doesn't know what. He has never seen his grandmother so angry at anyone. Babies are supposed to make people happy, not miserable. He smiles at his nephew upon passing near him. The little one giggles happily.

"You can't be the reason, can you?" he caresses his little hand before heading over to Emma's bed, where his bag is waiting.

"Do you have everything you need? Good. Let's go pick Belle up and give this two some moments alone, 'kay?"

The awkward look Mary Margaret and David share when they get back to their apartment is soon forgotten by Henry when he gets to the mansion. Regina is already waiting against the entrance door, dressed in a simple but elegant -and clearly expensive- little black dress.

"Mom!" Henry yells even before the Bug's door opens.

"Hey, kid, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh, yeah. Thank you, Emma, see you tomorrow!" he kisses her in the cheek before running out and across the yard.

Emma frowns while her companions share a smile. Belle gets out too to recover her bag from the trunk

"He'll be back tomorrow." Snow presses her arm with a reassuring smile.

"Is not that what I am worried about."

"And what is it?"

"I don't know... yet. Something's weird, that's all."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." She gives her a last pat before stepping out.

"Yeah... I will..." As she turns the car on again, Emma's murmure is hidden by the engines purr.

* * *

It was midnight when the Queen got back to her solitary rooms, at least away from the King and the repellent brat he had for a daughter. It had been a long day for her. If it hadn't been for her father, she would had probably lose her mind and killed everyone. But she hadn't which was a good sign.

She sighed and walked towards the balcony. The night fell over the realm like silk. She once was an innocent girl who believed in love and loved those kinds of moments were the silence brings peace to one's soul. And, most probably, it was the only thing that was left in her after all those years in the shadow of her husband's late wife. The anger and the hatred she needed to use her magic came from all those moments when she should have been loved, and she wasn't. And it was that indifference what was killing the young Regina inside her, hoping to be loved again.

"I hope you're not planning on jumping again, dearie!" the cheerful greeting of Rumplestilskin was something she had accustomed to, too. She turned around to look at him.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, _rude_, aren't we?" he smiled walking towards her. "I have a present for you, my dear."

"A _present_? From _you_?" the Queen arched her brow, amused.

"Oh, yes, indeed!" he whispered with a smile.

She eyed him suspiciously, crossing her arms in front of her chest. He had been her teacher for a long time, and if something at all she had learnt, that was that no one should _ever _trust Rumplestilskin's _presents_.

"And what's the trick?" she asked, trying to hide her inner curiosity.

"Well," he smiled looking at the floor, "for once, there's none."

Regina waved and something inside her sighed with frustation. Knowing that imp, asking was the worse by far she could do.

"Then, what is it?" and her voice came genuinely annoyed.

"I've been requested to cast a curse, dearie. And I want _you _to cast it!" and then he laughed in a way only a crazy man achieve.

She shuddered, barely being able to hide her thrillment anymore.

"A curse?"

"Yes, dearie."

"I know how to curse, Rumplestilskin. I have, _several _times."

"Oh, but that was child's play. What you have casted so far was _nothing_ like _this _curse!" Rolled in his index appeared a small white parchment, the corner of his lips curving into a mad grin.

The curses Regina had learnt were nothing like that one. Until that very moment, her curses were enchanted into small items to fulfill Rumplestilskin's part in deals he had made with other people. In return, she learnt how to. Other times it was a small curse, simple enough to be casted just with magic.

"What's that?" She asked arching a brow and trying to fake indiference. It was something she was getting better at, but her master could see through all her masks.

"Something special for a very special person!" he giggles.

"And you want me to cast it?"

He stared at her and tiltered his head to his side, an obvious and slightly annoyed look in his eyes.

"Haven't I said so? You said you wanted to learn how to cast curses."

"I... did."

"Then it's decided! It will be your final test, dearie! Don't disappoint me!"

"My final test? You mean, I have...?"

"Yes! Now attend your gest. Tomorrow, you shall learn. _Cast the curse, be rewarded. Fail me once, you'll be damned..._" the mad man's singing voice dissapeared in thin air, right before her eyes.

Before she could stop to think what had happened another voice came into the room. A voice she had come to hate.

"Regina, where you talking to someone?"

"Uhm? Ah, no, dear, I wasn't." She smiled and she could tell Snow White was buying it. "Do you need something?"

The fifteen-year-old Snow White walked pass her and looked to the amazing views the Queen had in her rooms. She sighted.

"Father truly believes I am the fairest of them all." She lifted her chin with a proud little smile.

"Well, you shouldn't." Her stepmother couldn't help herself.

"Why?" the young Snow White frowned, turning to look at her.

"Because you're not," her harsh tone was confusing the girl, she noticed, "I am." And then she smiled and the Princess giggled, clearly thinking she was actually joking.

She wasn't, but the girl need not to know that. There is a big difference between knowing what needs to be said and truly feeling it. Time had taught the Queen this bitter difference. When it came to Snow White, she didn't feel the motherly instincts she was supposed to feel for her, the ones she herself had craved from her mother long ago. Faking it was her favorite part.

"But you will," she added trying to ignore the pain in her chest, "eventually. You should beware of the consequences then, Snow. Proudness and vanity are two as dangerous traits as hatred and rage, and they will take all you got and turn it to ashes, leaving you only with a hole in your heart."

The girl looked at her, concerned, and nodded. She left with a grimace that showed how deeply she was trying to understand her stepmother's words.

* * *

The rest of the evening flies away as the sun sets in the horizont and soon is time for Henry to go to sleep.

They have spent their time together talking about anything but last week. He is going back to school the next morning and Regina seemed to want to know everything about it. They even remembered some fond memories of him being thrilled with the science fair's fake volcano as a kid.

"I still remember some of the bedtime stories you told me as a kid, you know?" he smiles, sleepy, getting comfortable inside his old room's bed. "The ones about that Queen and her little prince. I always knew it was about us."

Snow White and Belle wait against the door frame, both looking at the floor as they focus their attention in the conversation between the Mayor and her son. They hear a soft chuckle.

"Of course you knew, my dear." Regina caresses his cheek with and absent smile.

"Did you mean it?" Belle asks in a low voice.

"What?"

"What you said in the Town Hall," Belle whispers, "about her being like a mother for you."

"Yes, that... I meant it."

"The Queen could not be happier to know that her little Prince was back in her castle." The Queen says.

"Although she destroyed his." Henry jokes.

"Hey! She built him a better one after that." She tickles him.

"Was she like that? When you were a kid." Belle smiles as they both glance inside the room. She is sure few people has seen the regal woman that happy before.

"Kind of, yes." Snow replies with a nostalgic smile. "She told me some bedtime stories about the Queen and her Princess during her first year of marriage. Then I grew older, but she was always there, giving me advice. Even if she hated me, she raised me. She gave me advice. And I think she always cared a little. She was my stepmother, after all."

"And now she is Henry's. Well, kind of." Belle smiles full of tenderness.

It's been a while since they have heard anything from the room, and it is when they quiet that Regina speaks.

"I'm sorry, Henry, it seems that, although your grandmother recalls some of my advices, the ones about eavesdropping being a bad thing and consequences are not between them."

Snow blushes.

"I will take them downstairs, I don't want their pointless talking keeping you from sleeping. Goodnight, love." She kisses softly her child's forehead before exiting the bedroom closing the door behind her.

The Queen looks at the two of them with a deadly glare.

"I will prepare some glasses." The librarian says quickly almost running down the hall.

"You lied." Regina states calmly after Mrs Gold dissapears, stopping Snow before she can do the same.

"About what?" the Princess shrugs.

"I never cared about you as a daughter. I despised you. I would have done anything to kill you. In fact, I did. I knew my part, and I played it. "

"But you raised me."

"I didn't pretend to. It was part of my revenge."

"And you like me now."

"Like you?" Regina snorts amused. "I just _tolerate_ you."

"I have known you for a long time now, Regina, almost a life time." Smiles Mary Margaret. "I know that, deep inside, you cared about me. Just a little, perhaps. But you did. You were and you are like a mother to me."

"Stop."

"What?"

"_Lying_."

"I'm not lying!" Snow exclaims, offended.

"You are, my dear, and you are getting quite good at it."

Her stepmother's words send chills through her body. She frowns and looks away. She almost seems angry.

"I warned you. It will eat you and there will be nothing left." Regina sighs.

"Or maybe you are just scared someone has revealed your true feelings." Her stepdaughter replies, defiantly. "But, you know what? I don't care. Keep them there, buried." And she turns to walk away.

"Do not darken further you heart because of me, Snow. I am not worth it."


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.**

_I loved your awesome reviews, people! Loved them, and I'm sorry this took me longer than the others, final exams are complete time-eaters =P But here I am with a new chapter. I hope you enjoy it._

* * *

The clock hits midnight. The three women are sitting in the small library on the ground floor, holding a glass of cider and talking amicably about women's stuff. Well, Snow White and Belle _are _talking. Regina is sit in the corner of the couch with her legs crossed in her usual elegant way, just staring at the wall wishing they would stop or choke to death.

"May I be reminded of why any of you is here?" Regina asks with a tedious voice, cutting the conversation her two companions were having about shoes being the most powerful magic _after _love.

"It is girl's night!" Belle giggles letting herself fall in the couch. It seems her resistance to alcohol is rather scarce.

"You have said so." Regina spits, jaded. "I can see why Mary Margaret is here. I imagine it is hard to spent that much time with a child _and _a crying baby. But you? Shouldn't you be enjoying your honey moon or whatever you can enjoy with that imp of yours?"

"Don't be so bitter, Regina." Snow scolds her. "But... yeah, why aren't you? Is everything okay with Mr Gold?"

Belle sighs and looks down.

"It is... is just that... we don't have where to go, I mean... it's not like we can leave town, right? And since Neal died... nothing's really changed."

"Are you happy together?"

"Yes, yes..." She softly smiles. "We are happy."

"Then what's the matter? You know, if you need to go somewhere... _private_," Snow smiles, "there is a cabin in the woods. It looked uninhabited. David and I sought refuge there during that dreadful storm two years ago. Maybe you should go and... you know." She winks at her.

Regina rolls her eyes and snorts before taking another sip of her glass. The librarian only shrugs, blushing.

"I... I talk to him." She says before hiding her embarrasment behind the glass.

"Okay." Snow smiles doing the same.

And there they are, three women who have almost nothing in common nor a reason to be together spending quality time. Maybe Mary Margaret and Belle could, for them would not be that awkward since they didn't really have a past. To Regina it was only clear that the only one who shouldn't be there is herself since she attempted to destroy their happy endings. In fact, she hold one of them captive for more than twenty-eight years.

The face of Emma popped in her mind as another sip of liquid ran down her throat. She was smirking at her, the I-told-you-so look in her face irritating the Queen. Maybe she was right after all, maybe she _did _have a family, as strange as it could sound to her. She knew by experience families are never easy and she could only imagine that they would stick together no matter how much differences would be between them. She hid a smile. She would never tell them that she wanted to feel that way. It was what she has always desired.

But it would not be possible if someone else's darkness destroyed it. They had have enough with the Evil Queen and the reamins of her in her body. And so she looks at her son's grandmothers and frowned.

"We have been having a rough time... I guess we are starting to be real parents and... it is too difficult. No one gives you an advice book. That's what mothers are for, after all."

None of them look at the Madame Mayor, but she knows they are expecting some kind of comment.

"If I were you I would not have left my baby with that reckless husband of yours. I didn't leave Henry alone until it was absolutely necessary. I can't imagine how a _mother _would leave hers having passed only one week since the birth."

"Excuse me."

Snow White puts the glass in the coffe table before standing and leaving, her eyes full of tears. Belle gives her a dirty look.

"You can't say you don't agree with me." Regina points out with a smirk.

* * *

Snow reaches the sink of the bathroom upstairs and only then does she let the tears fall down her cheeks, her hands griping the marble as if she were to fall any moment. She has been feeling this pain inside since they poured the first glass of cider, a continuos stabbing in her heart, burning her chest, suffocating her. She lets out a small cry. Why does she have to suffer this? Wasn't the guilt of killing Cora enough? She has to look Regina in the eyes and smile, and hope she truly has forgiven her. But has she? Does she even appreciate it?

Snow is been lying. She has lied to Henry, to David, to everyone. They come out her mouth as air does with every breathing. When she said she thought of Regina as her mother, she didn't really mean it. Of course, she would always be her mother through marriage. However, no matter how much time they spent together in her youth, she never thought of her like that. Back then she was only someone living with them, "her father's wife". Sometimes a friend, someone to trust. But she never really cared.

_But that's what she is now! She's our **friend**, and that's why I am lying. Yes, that is why. I'm doing this to save her. She needs my lies._

That is what she is been thinking since the first one, but even Mary Margaret knows that is not all to it. The truth is... she does not know why is she doing it.

She curves over the sink and gasps as another wave of pain pierces her.

She loves David, and yet she feels anger each time he speaks or does something she does not agree with. For Pete's shake, she has even yelled at him for not singing the right lullaby to their baby!

_What is _wrong _with me? I've never been like this._

Just thinking about her husband makes her want to kill him. She shutters her eyes and contains another cry of pain and anger.

_Regina was right. I chose to kill Cora. I killed her, knowingly and by choice. And now darkness if going to eat me alive... and my family._

That only made her more furious.

* * *

There is no sun this morning for Storybrooke. The town is been completely covered by clouds menacing to drown everyone in rain any moment. Clicking her tongue she moves away from the window and looks at her new and almost empty apartment. Before she can sigh and wonder is this was a good idea, her phone rings.

"Emma."

"_We have a problem, sister!_" Leroy seems pretty alarmed.

"What it is?"

Without losing another second, Emma goes to the fridge to get something to-go, only to find that it is as empty as the loft. She sighs, wondering if this was indeed a good idea.

"_It's Whale. He's freaking out the patients._"

"What? I'm on my way."

"_Rubs is here with me. We've controlled it, but you should go get Archie."_

The sound of something crashing near Leroy's phone ensures it isn't controlled at all.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"_Bring Archie with you, ple- Hey! Who threw that?!_" The Sheriff hangs up.

She drives to Archie's Office as fast as the Bug is able to, cursing under her breath all the way and wondering what the heck is going on.

"Thank you, doctor." Is smiling Aurora when Emma arrives. Her pregnancy is taking all of her body by now.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Emma gasps for air; she has climbed the stairs two steps at a time.

"Good," the Princess smiles, "there is something odd with my mind and memories and... well, everything but... Dr Hopper is helping me getting accustomed to this world."

"That's great!" she nods, not really feeling that excited. "Archie, you have to come with me, _right now._"

"Is there something wrong, Sheriff?"

"There's a riot at the hospital, apparently. We're gonna need your help."

"I-I have patients today, I don't think..."

"Your patients may end up being Crazy Whale's ones if you don't help out in this one. Weren't you a conscience or something?"

"I'll stick around," Aurora says quickly with a little smile hoping she can be useful at all, "in case someone comes looking for you, Dr Hopper."

Archie smiles too, nodding. "Thank you, Aurora." If Emma were to be asked, she would say the cricket was trembling with fear.

"C'mon, let's go."

They find Ruby waiting at the entrance of the Hospital of Storybrooke when they arrive. The street is empty except for her and a chair in the middle of the road, surrounded by sharp pieces of glass. Looking up, Emma finds that it came through one of the hospital's windows.

"What's going on, Rubs?"

"Emma!" she sighs, relieved. "Whale is doing some kind of brain-wash or something, he's convinced the nurses not to treat those who support Regina. People is freaking out in there. Leroy has barricaded the halls, they were throwing things at each other."

"What are we going to do?" asks the therapist.

"Whale is missing, also."

"Then we can't get Archie to talk to him. Let's start there, then. Archie, you go talk to the nurses, see if you can convince them to resume the treatments. Ruby; you and Leroy try to calm everyone down. I will look for Whale in the meantime."

They nod and run inside.

Ruby's description is an understatement. It is anarchy inside there. There is a group of people yelling at one of the security cameras in the corner, another one is taking care of the sick while a third is throwing things at Leroy, who is hid between a desk and the barricade leading to the inner halls of the bulding and, therefore, the nurses. He is yelling something too, but it is incomprehensible.

"Hey!" Emma tries to make herself heard, but everyone ignores her. "HEY!" she takes her gun from behind her waist and fires two warning shots to the floor. She can almost hear her mother complaining about her recklessness. "Everyone, _calm down_."

And they look at her, both scared and angry, and for a moment there it seems they all are going to eat her alive.

"I thought you were not gonna make it, sister." Leroy sighs stepping out from his hiding spot.

"We are going to fix this."

"How? Whale isn't treating the anyone supporting the Evil Queen." A young man shouts angrily at her. "My little brother needs medical attention!" Some other complaints arise too.

"Dr Hopper is here, he's going to talk to the nurses and everything will be alright."

"Sheriff..." Archie's voice is full of doubt, but Emma shuts him with a look.

"_Everything _is gonna be alright, 'kay? Now, Leroy, let him in."

"Yes, sis'."

"What if he doesn't convince them? What then?" the guy goes on although not as angry as before.

"That's why I'm calling the nuns. I'm sure the fairies can help out here. Rubs, can you do that for me?"

"On it."

"Good."

"Whale is still missing." It is Leroy who approaches her this time. "I don't know what kind of power does he have over the nurses but... it's nasty for sure."

"Is he here? In the hospital?"

"Haven't found him yet, but I'm sure as hell he hasn't left the building."

"I will take care of that. Make sure everything's okay down here. I'll take him out."

Leroy nods and walks towards the barricade. He moves a shelf for them to pass in. Archie goes first, but a woman stops the Sheriff graving her by the arm.

"What if he doesn't give up?"

"I'll have to punch some of that nonsense out of his face, then."

* * *

Looking at the skies he knows soon enough it will rain. Although it wasn't in the story book, there was a tale about a woman's emotions having impact in the weather of the town she lived in. They said she was so sweet and gentle that her tears made the sky want to cry and her laugh was enough to blossom the flowers.

_Could someone like that be living here, in Storybrooke? _

He lets his gaze roam around the playground. Everything has changed since the first Dark Curse broke. Time started again, kids could finally grow up and pass the course. Just imagine how it would be like to be twenty-eight years hearing to the same lessons gives him the shivers.

Mary Margaret is on maternity leave, some other teaches have not returned yet from their vacations, which means there isn't enought people to take care of everything. Belle is now supplying the school with lots of books. He waves at her when she passes nearby. She has become the target of some dirty comments he would rather not hear ever again. Mr Gold would curse them if he knew.

He used to be lonely during the first ten years of his life. Now he has a friend: Austin. He and Henry spent most of their time together. Today, Austin is sick. He sighs.

His eyes lay on a girl that is sitting across the playground, playing with one of her braids. She is alone too, and she seems sad. Their gazes meet. Her sweet smile makes him smile back, and something pops inside his chest. Suddenly, he knows that even if the weather-changer woman might not exist in this world nor the other, if that girl's eyes were to cry, the world would surely have to. He would do anything to make that beautiful smile appear again. He really hopes his is not as silly as he feels in that very moment.

Two kids approach her, big as shelves, breaking their connection. Henry can't barely see her anymore, but he notices they are bothering her when they take her lunch away.

Withou giving it a second thought, he inmediately stands up.

"Hey!" he yells, taking his TRON lunch box -one he is really proud of- and running towards them. "Hey! Leave her alone!"

"And who are...?" the bigger bully turns around and laughs upon seeing him. "Oh! Isn't this the Evil Queen's adopted son?"

"She's not like that!"

"I think he is, buddy!" the other one laughs too, still holding the girl's arm.

"Leave her alone."

"Henry, please, let it be..." she begs.

"What are you now? The hero? Don't make me laugh." He pushes him. "Move aside, bug, I have business here."

"No way."

He tries to push him back. He can't and the bully laughs, turning to face the blonde girl. Taking advantage of that, Henry takes his own lunchbox and desperately hits him in the head with it.

"Henry!" she gasps.

The bully does not say a word. He only turns to look at him with the maddest frown Henry has ever seen.

"I think I prefer Evil Lunch today." Comments the other one, releasing the girl.

"Yeah, me too."

And before he can think of running away or submitting his food, there are fists all over his face.

* * *

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"I just want them to tell me where she is so I can skin her alive in my dungeon and torture her to the last of her breaths. _That _could destroy the entire kingdom, let alone say the entire realm. It is a _little_ extreme, would not you think?"

"You will have what you want, Regina. And I will have what I want. We will get our happy endings back."

"There will be nothing back if you destroy _everything_."

Regina kept pacing around Maleficen't small laboratory, analyzing every ingredient, every jar, every movement her dear friend took to create the base for the potion she had promised would bring their much deserved happiness. But what she was attempting to brew was... monstrous, something so powerful and terrible that it had become a legend. A legend because no one had brew it before due to its difficulty.

It had many names in many realms, some of them being the Blissing-Curse Potion, the Clair-Obscure Magic Potion and the Jailer of Love and Hatred Potion. All of those held a part of the real truth. Maleficient was trying to make the potion that would curse and bless the one driking it. It would grant that person control of both magics; light and dark, jailing inside his or her heart the most powerful of love and darkness.

The Queen highly doubted Maleficent being capable of finishing such a task.

"Now, now... You should let the professionals take care of that, dearie. You may _burn_."

Rumplestilskin mocking voice appeared as the gray smoke disappeared. However, he was not amused at all.

"I thought I had trained you better." He looked to his former apprentice, no grimace whatsoever in his face, the look of a dead doll.

"This was _not _my idea." She answered, defensively.

"Exactly what I meant. It _should _have."

It had passed a long time since the magic training ended. Her face, her expressions, they were all dead now. She no longer needed to put on a mask to enact indifference or coldness. That was what she felt inside. It was her price for magic. She was no longer afraid of Rumplestilskin.

"It was mine." Maleficent smiled, raising her chin with an evil smile.

"And are you aware of what it takes?" he asked, turning on his heel and fluttering his expressive hands. "I know _she _does. I _taught _her."

"I am just as capable, Rumplestilskin."

Regina arched a brow upon hearing those words and looked at the imp, waiting for the response. Maleficent was a haughty woman, one of the few who dared to speak in that manner to the Dark One. This time, he laughed like the mad man he was. That only encouraged the dragon.

"I have almost every ingredient needed. It is just a matter of time."

"Are you sure?" Regina asked again, her eyes fixed in the impish man that had been her teacher in magic.

"I am."

"How lovely!" Rumplestilskin smiled. "But, you see, there's a tiny little problem there."

"What?" Maleficent laughed, grinding the nail of a troll.

"There's an ingredient impossible to obtain, dearie." He let out a giggle.

"The first thread of light on a dark heart..." Regina sighed.

"See? My apprentice! She knows, you don't. You should hear her." He whispers with a wicked smile and a hand near his mouth.

"Oh, but you see, I _have _that." And she drew from her pocket a small vial. Confined inside there was a flickering light, thin as a hair and furious as the inner dragon of its owner.

The Queen looked at her master. Her worry, usually so buried inside the darkness of her heart, scratched the surface upon seeing for the first time ever that, the Dark One, was astonished and completely speechless.

"How?" The Evil Queen asked, silently.

He looked at her. The question was not for him, of course, but they did not need words to say the most important things. Years of dealing magic with strangers beside him had taught her that the most powerful comunications were those not spoken nor written; the right grimace could make a King tremble and knee. That day, it was Rumplestilskin's eyes who told her that both of them would be the ones kneeling if her friend succeded.

"Trolls." She smiled. "_Your _trolls."

The Queen had known about the potion for a long time. Its effects where almost unknown and yet they inspired fear among all the great magicians. It would make that person indestructable, almost unstoppable. It was not that they did not want it, but the fact that brewing such a thing would require extraordinary help. And everyone knows what happens if you reveal you are creating an almost invincible weapon. It is just not wise.

Regina's and Rumplestilskin's eyes were still fixed in each other's. The potion would make Maleficent more powerful than the Dark One, the most powerful dark being in that realm _and _the others, to make him bow. Something that terrible should not be allowed to exist.

Looking at him, she flicked her hand and the cauldron disappeared, not thinking twice. Her former master smiled as he knew he would have never, his thirst for power was his greatest flaw. He had given her the choice: destroy it now or let Rumplestilskin fight his way to that source of power. It would have been bad enough if anyone drank that potion, but they were condemned if the Dark One was to be that person.

"What have you done!?" Maleficent yelled, standing. "_That_ took us _months_."

"It did? What a pity." The Queen smirked at her. The corner of her eye caught a glimpse of gray smoke in Rumplestilkin's disappearing.

"Do you or do you not want Snow White back? Do you not want her _dead_?"

"I do. But that is _my _business. Clearly you don't understand what you were doing, dear, and I am not helping you destroy everything I have earned. I will get_ my _happy ending _my _way, and you shall see not to step on it."

"You do believe you are better than me, huh?" Maleficent darkly laughed. "Oh, honey, you are so blind to the mistake you are making."

"I might be, but there are certain limits I am not willing to cross, Maleficent. Some weapons should remain forgotten."

* * *

Storybrooke General Hospital is not that big, but people has been coming almost dayly since the magic came back to Storybrooke. Magic injuries just happen everywhere in this town now.

There isn't that much staff either. The hallways are empty when Emma goes behind the barricades. She walks down the hall, looking in every room, finding doctors giving minimun medical aid to the patients and nurses attending the most bloody wounds, but that is it. No big fancy equipment, no test to run, no labs being done.

She resumes her walking, almost knowing what she will find at the nurse post.

There is a waiting room to her right. The sick and hurt ones are there, sitting in the chairs, the less wounded in the floor, speaking quietly while their companions are screaming near the nurse's desk, something about magic. She leans over to hear better and what is her surprise when she discovers that they are not only asking the patients to quit supporting Regina, they are also _demanding _them to quit their own magic.

Emma turns around, looking for someone she might know to start doing her questioning about Whale. Archie should be the one doing the convincing part, so she leaves that to him.

Some known naughty leprechauns are surrounding Tinker Bell in the waiting room. The fairy is kneeling in the center, trying what seems to magically cure their burns when the nurses are not looking. The Sheriff approaches and kneels beside her, providing at least some concealment to her activities.

"What is going on?"

"Sheriff!" she whispers, startled, her face reddening upon thinking she has been caught.

"Are they okay?"

"The nurses won't help any creature that holds to magic, and I am not giving up mine... not after what I went through to earn it back. Support Regina? I can quit that. But not magic."

"Yeah, I've heard that. What happened to the leprechauns?"

One thing Emma has discovered about magic creatures is that it gives her the creeps to talk with leprechauns. They are like dwarves, only smaller and younger-looking. Basically, like talking to kids with beards. It just isn't funny if it isn't Halloween.

"They were playing with magic and they got burned, as usual, but they can't heal themselves. They can't help it, though, have been coming here every now and then for weeks now. And magic is what makes them... leprechauns. I'm trying to help everyone but... I'm running short on pixie dust." Tinker Bell looks at her, worried, and then looks at the other sick people. There is not enough room for everyone.

"Thank you, Tinker Bell." Emma sighs patting her should and standing up.

"Is not that we like doing this, you know?" the trembling voice of a woman whispers behind her and they both, fairy and Sheriff, turn to look at her.

It is a nurse, her identification says '_Joy_', but she seems about to break. Her nervous gazes over her shoulder, her shaking hands, even her eyes filled with tears declare something very wrong is going on.

"Then stop!" hisses Tinker Bell, clearly oblivious to all the signs.

"What do you mean?" Emma frowns.

"It's... it's the attendant nurse. He did something _horrible _to her..."

Her words are starting to attract the other patients and their whispers. She looks around, scared.

"It is okay, you can tell us." Emma reassures her. She tries not to frown at herself, noticing that it should be Archie taking care of this and not herself.

"He... he started firing magical people when the curse broke. Last night he came, inraged. I was on duty as some of the others, and we tried to calm him down. Elethia... she accidentally revealed she used to be a woman named Sosia in the Enchanted Forest, a healer, when trying to make him understand that magic is not a bad thing, that people can change. He took her downstairs. We heard her scream for almost an hour and two later she came back, as pale as the dead. She said Whale was right, that magic was dangerous and it should be forbidden because it only hurts people. She said science is the only _magic _that should exist."

"And did you believe her?"

Everyone is surrounding them by now, quietly listening or gasping to the terrible story, waiting for a response.

"... she took others downstairs too... the rest of us just nodded and accepted. If we try to stand to them..."

"We will not let them do anything to you." A man says, taking her hand.

"Where is he now?" Emma tries not to yell and scare further poor Nurse Joy. She is seriously going to punch the nonsense out of the doctor's face.

"Downstairs."

"In the asylum? Great then, he can't escape."

"He changed the code, but I don't know which is it and neither do the others. You can't enter there without it."

The Sheriff snarled.

"Who knows?"

"Whale, and Elethia."

"Where's Archie?"

"He is trying to convince Nurse Elethia to let them treat the patients." Says Tinker Bell, who has remained near her.

"Good." A sudden idea flashes through her mind, and although she doesn't like it one bit, she will have to try. "Hey, do you know if the Mayor held any kind of... skeleton key or whatever for that panel?"

"... She may, I guess."

"Do you think it wise to bring her here?" The fairy asks. Emma shrugs.

"What other option do we have?"

* * *

"Henry! What on earth happened to you!?" Regina shrieks upon seeing his son's face covered in blood and wounds, taking him inside with deep concern in her eyes. "And why are you not at school, as you should be!?"

"He... he tried to defend me, Madame Mayor..." the shy voice of a young girl calls her attention, her soft cheeks blushed as she doesn't dare to step inside. "I... I thought it best to bring him here. I know they will wait for him at the end of the classes."

The adult woman weighs the younger one's words for a moment. "Well, thank you." She nods gesturing her to enter. "But it would have been wiser to ask for help instead of playing hero, Henry," she sighs, leading them to the dinning room, "I thought you'd knew that by now."

"I... I just couldn't help myself!" the kid blushes too, throwing indiscreet glances towards the blonde.

"Of course not," she sighs again sitting between them, "it is in your blood, after all."

She didn't cared who his parents were when she adopted him and she doesn't now, but heaven knows how much does she hate him inheriting the worst of them.

She lays the box with all the first aid equipment in the table and draws a piece of gauze and hydrogen peroxide to clean his injures. He swishes at first, but then sits up suddenly and his adoptive mother knows that he is trying to feign toughness.

"Why don't you use magic to heal him?" the girl asks coyly.

"I promised Henry not to unless it is absolutely necessary." She simply answers. "An, in this moment, I think for him is best to learn the lesson his birth mother _and_ greatmother seem to lack."

"And which is that?"

"Thinking of consequences." Henry replies. His mother hums positively as she cleans a scratch from his forehead.

For a moment, Regina thinks he is avoiding her gaze as he keeps looking away. It takes her half a minute to realize he is not, but looking at the blonde behind her. This earns him a piercing look from the Queen, the kind of look she used to gave him before the curse broke when he was being childlish or utterly unbecoming. _Have you never seen a girl before?_, it says. He shrugs, embarrased, before shooting the girl another look.

Regina rolls her eyes.

"And which are the brutes's names?"

"I-I don't know, mom..."

"You went after people you didn't know the name of, nor even their flaws?" She asks clearly dissapointed. "... so much like your birth mother..."

"I thought he was brave!" the blonde said and the glowing of her voice was such that she could feel her smiling behind her.

"Well, it wasn't, Goldilocks. It was _reckless_."

"Wait, that's your name?" he poks to the side to look at the girl and then at his mother. "You know her?"

The look on Regina's face is indescribable.

"You don't even know _her _name? Have you not learnt anything of what I have tried to teach you all this years, Henry?"

Her son stares to the floor, embarrased. Regina decides to exhal heavily and walk away with the kit, having finished her task on cleaning his face. Some adhesive bandages will do the rest.

"So that's your name? Goldilocks?"

She smiles and nods, tilting her head to the right. She must be his age, maybe younger. "Not exactly, but that's what everyone calls me anyways."

"And what about the bears? Is it true that you...?"

The blonde bursts into laugh before he can even finish his sentence, making his cheeks go as red as her mother's apples.

"No! No. Their not _bears_, is just what everyone calls them. The Three Bears!" She exclaims proudly. "And they're my dads. Kind of."

"You have _three _dads." And it is more of a statement than a question.

"Did you think you were the only one with daddy issues?" she jokes and he smiles. "Yeah. Three dads. They found me when I snucked into their tree house some years ago. I had lost my parents long ago and they took me in." She shrugs. "For me, they are my dads."

As Regina re-enters the room she finds heartbreaking how cute her son is looking right now, willingly listening to a girl he has clearly laid his eyes on. The sad part of it all is that it should never have happened.

"Tell me", she clears her throat,"all about those bullies. I want their names, a full description, everything."

"No, mom, _please_..." He begs, knowing where is this coming from.

"They hurt you, Henry, they have to pay."

"But if you go to their parents I'll look like a sneak!"

"I will take that risk if it ensures the well-being of my only son." She replies ignoring his plea.

"But...!"

The door bell rings.

"I'm not discussing this any further, Henry."

Regina leaves the bandages in the table before walking towards the door.

"Regina," Emma pants, "I need you." This makes the brow of the former Mayor to arch, confused. "I-I mean, I need your help."

"Mom!" Henry exclaims upon seeing her, and both him and the girl approach her.

"Wow, what happened to your face?" And without asking for an invitation she comes in. Regina furrows and closes the door behind her, bitting back a harsh comment that would surely offend their son.

"It's a long story, some kid beat me at school and -"

"Yeah, I can _see _that."

"- and mom wants to talk to his parents!" he accuses.

"Regina! You can't do that!" his birth mom turns to his adoptive mom. "It'd ruin his reputation!"

"You might side with him as much as you like, Sheriff. My decisions are not open for debate. Now, what was that about you needing my help?"

"Is anything wrong?" Henry asks, concerned.

Emma sighs and pats her son's shoulder. "Just business, kid. Why don't you and Goldilocks go upstairs to play some videogames, huh?" She offers, smiling at them. "_I'll try to talk her out of that_." She adds in a whisper that Regina reproaches her with a piercing glare.

"I heard that." The Queen says when the children are far enough and too distracted on their little happy chat.

"I know." She shrugs.

"What happened, Sheriff?"

Regina can notice how Emma's eyes change from an amused look to another more focused and serious, one meant for business. She also looks concerned and hesitating to request anything, probably because of the recent events that involved the Sheriff ruining her love life.

"Yeah, right, the _business_. Here's the thing:" she starts as she always does when she does not know how to put _the thing_ into words,"Whale has kidnapped the building, he is punishing the nurses trying to treat people that... support you or magic, or whatever, really. He's gone crazy, and he's hiding in the asylum with the other lunatics. The code was changed so we can't have access to him now. I was wondering if maybe you had a master code."

"I'm guessing this has something to do with yesterday's meeting at the Town Hall?" Regina asks calmly with an emotionless face, arms crossed in fron of her chest.

"How... how do you know that?"

"Does it matter?"

"No... I guess... I guess not. Either way, do you have it?"

"A master code?"

"Yeah."

"No. There was only one code, never meant to be changed."

"Oh. Where are you going?" she asks seeing her walk away.

"You said you needed my help." Regina says as she takes her coat off the rack. "I'm going to blow that door up."

"Why?"

"Because as much as this town's people disgust me I'd rather have access to a hospital, Miss Swan."

She nods and exits the house first, walking towards the Bug and waiting for the Queen inside, the engine already murmuring soft complainings.

"You should really let Henry fix this in his own." The Sheriff coments as they stop by a red semaphore.

"They said those kids would wait for him at the exit of school, I'm not willing to let _my son _walk towards a certain beating."

"You'll destroy his image in front of that girl, you know? And he seems to like her."

"It doesn't matter. She is not worth it."

"But he likes her."

"She is not deserving of our son, Miss Swan."

"Why?"

"She is a commoner."

Emma snorts.

"Is this some funny joke to you? May I remember you that _our _son is heir not only to one but _two _crowns? That responsability can not be held by some classless girl covered in mud."

"What's wrong with you?" the Sheriff presses the accelerator trying not to punch the other woman in the face. "We are not in the Enchanted Forest, Regina. He is not heiring anything. He's just a boy! And he likes her! What's the problem with that?"

"Still, -"

"C'mon, have you forgotten how love felt like?" against her better judgement, Emma cuts her with a phrase she have not meant to say in the first place. Her face reds as she fixes her eyes in the road.

"Are you refering to the love you last stealed from me?" the other woman replies, sharply, the hatred in her words almost stabbing her skin.

"He is a commoner, you know?" she tries not to facepalm at her big mouth because she is driving, but she can surely think of ways to punish her brain for not being able to focus on the road at the same time that she holds a conversation with the former Mayor that does not imply this last trying to kill her in the near future.

"That's quite different."

"And why's that?"

"I _am _a Queen. I may do as I please, I fulfilled my role. He, in the other hand, has not yet. His reputation you so care about will be truly damaged if we let this silly crush take the best of him."

"And what do you propose?"

"Talk him out of it or end it ourselves, for his own good."

"Isn't that what Cora did to you?"

At this question Regina falls silent for a moment, her gaze fixed in her lap as she weighs it and, for a moment there, Emma wonders if it hurt her.

"Regina, I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Have it as whatever you please, Miss Swan. I will only blame you when it backfires."

* * *

_Appearances are everything, dearie_, she remembered looking at her reflection in boudoir.

Feigning some kind of sickness and headaches had convinced the King that she should be left alone, not wanting his little girl becoming ill too, and so she had earned a full day for herself, time to prepare for the important night that one was going to be.

Rumplestilskin had promised he would come by midnight to take her to another world. It was not an escape, since she did no longer posses the desire to, but an adventure to test her proficiency. Her master often took her to the deals he was about to close when she had been part of it, being the one to enchant the required item or curse the victim. Some of those days he had required her to be dressed in a specific way, enchanting her face so no one would recognize the Queen, not even an inch far from her face.

This time, however, it would be different. She no longer needed to hide since they were not going to be in the same world, and knowing that the meeting would be with an important man, she had chosen a dress that would show all the magnificence the Queen should have. Hadn't said Rumplestilskin that she should be dressed as if preparing herself for a King? So she had.

"No, no, no, dearie. That's not what I meant." His voice mocked through the flickering flames of the candles as he appeared laying comfortably in her chaise long. She was not startled by this, as she had came to know her master's magic and was awaiting its presence.

"You said I should look prepared for a King." She calmly pointed out, painting her lips in dark red.

He giggled with a madly pitched voice as he approached her.

"You should not look like a Queen."

"That's what I am," she replied arching a brow, knowing that she would have to give up eventually if she wanted to learn the lesson he had offered her in return, "what should I look like?"

"A _Princess_!" he smiled and waved his hand. His drak gray magic wrapped her. She sighed and left the lipstick in the dressing table. As the smoke dispersed, she found in the mirror a reflection of her that had not belonged for a long time. "I hope your stepdaughter does not miss her pretty little dress. Oh, my, she is growing up, isn't she? Has she been committed to someone yet?"

"She shall not reach that age." The Queen hissed through her teeth, piercing him with her eyes through the reflection, making his smile only grow broader.

But he was right. Snow White was growing up, enough to fit in her stepmother's dresses, which could be concerning. She had to stop it before she could take over the kingdom. It was already bad that they loved the Princess as their queen. Luckily, after this lesson there would be no magic nor spell hard enough for the real Queen, and then, Snow White and her father would perish given the right chance.

She secretly smiled at that thought.

"If you can't look innocent, Regina, then you are of no use to me."

The mask slipped on again instantly at his words, and she smiled, remembering Daniel and how he had made her feel in the past, his love lighting up her eyes, sweet as the angel she used to be. The white dress fit her curves perfectly, her black hair framing her face as the one of pure innocence. She both hated and loved it. She was not pure, her soul having darkened since the first heart she crushed, and yet the disguise would decieve the smartest person.

"And why would all... _this_ be required?" She asked standing on her feet.

"Because, dearie, this world we are heading to," he leaned toward her softly raising his right brow as he usually did when explaining something, his voice lowering until being a mere whisper, "is quite the sickly sweet one. Even their darkest witches help the walkers."

Rumplestilskin's hand flickered and a wooden archway appeared behind him.

"And the only way to get to it, is through this portal!" he giggled.

Regina marvelled at the sight of the richly carved piece, made out of two intertwined thin trees by their branches. The elvish runes drawn in their trunks glowed lightly, illuminating softly their dry leaves and the stone pedestal in which the archway rested. Its pureness was so that she herself could see how terrible it was that a being such as the Dark One possessed it.

The sight in the mirror of the wall almost tricked her into believing she could have part of it too within her heart.

"Fairy-craft!" Rumplestilskin jumped, excited, and approached it. "The only magic capable of taking us there. Ladies first." He bowed, offering a hand to help her climb the few steps up.

The magic portal enveloped her frame, its bright nature itching her dark and suffocating her lungs. It was the first time she went through a portal, she was not prepared for it. And so the little air she had within herself was taken, and she thought she was going to choke. And then, it stopped. She opened her eyes.

What Regina saw was beautiful. Irritatingly beautiful.

* * *

Emma's mobile phone rings, the tone being some kind of classic eight-bit music Henry must have put when she wasn't looking. She only thanks that her kid is not the kind to choose something _utterly _embarrasing.

"Are you not going to pick that irritating thing up?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

The blonde opens her eyes at Regina, unbelieving, just for a milisecond before looking back at the road. "I'm driving!" She exclaims as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.

"I remember several times where you didn't exactly respected the rules. Don't mind my presence, Miss Swan. It would not be the first time you break them in front of your Mayor."

"_Former _Mayor." Emma points out. "Picking your phone while driving is distracting. I'd rather not die, thanks."

The thing keeps skirling. It stops, and then it starts again. And it keeps doing that until its sound is almost drilling the Savior's skull. She quickly glances to Regina, who is just calmly looking through the window, unaffected.

"Regina?"

"Yes, Miss Swan?"

"Would you put it on speaker for me? It may be important." She adds before the brunette can give her a snarky reply.

Regina swallows her "_Talking while someone is driving might be dangerous too_" and asks, "Where is it?", searching for it around her.

"In my right pocket, there."

She reaches for it. The screen is showing a photo and a name. She can't help a chug.

"It's _Charming._" The Queen spits, disgusted.

Several seconds pass and the thing keeps sounding.

"Are you going to pick it up or not?"

"Where are the buttons?"

"... there's none." For a moment there she had forgotten Storybrooke is anchored in the past.

"Then how do you expect me to put it on speaker?" the former Mayor replies. "Doesn't matter, they have hang up."

Emma lets out an annoyed growl. And then it rings again.

"Your father is more stubborn than I thought."

"Follow my instructions, ok? Just touch the green icon and slide."

"This is stupid. Why do I have to _slide _inside a car just to pick it up?"

"Your finger! _Slide _your _finger_ through the screen!"

"You should really think before you speak." Regina sighs and _sliding _the green icon through the screen. The sound stops and the image changes.

"Now tap the speaker on the right side and leave it on the dashboard."

"Emma?"

"Hey, David, is everything okay?"

"It's Snow, she..."

"I'm having kind of a situation here, can't it wait?"

Regina rolls her eyes, quietly.

"She has locked up in the apartment with Neal, she won't let me in."

"What?"

"She was furious. Something about being a bad mother." Emma looks at the former Mayor, not capable of helping herself in the need of sharing her concern with someone. The car stops at yet another red semaphore and Regina just looks away. Is this little gesture which tells her that something happened last night.

"I'll talk to her later, ok? Just keep trying to get it." She advices before the line goes dead. "What did you say to her?" she asks next, accusingly.

"Why do you suppose I had something to do with it?" is the brunette's defensive response.

"Because that's my superpower. Tell me."

"Of course. I'm sure that's how you stole my son _and _my happy ending."

"You know I could have you arrested and almost no one would bat an eye, right?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Regina, _tell me._"

"I just spoke the truth." She gives up, her face indifferent as ever.

"And which truth is that?"

"I couldn't leave Henry alone with someone else until it was absolutely necessary, and he is not even my biological son. I just can't see how someone could leave their one-week-old kid to have a _girl's night_, whatever that is."

Emma falls silent and pushes the accelerator, suddenly avoiding the other woman's gaze. She was prepared for everything except that.

"You can't defend her, can you?" Regina states, raising her chin. "For you know how painful it is to leave your nameless child to someone."

Her words stab her in the chest, killing any response she could have made up to defend her mother because, in the end, Regina was right. Something was really wrong with Mary Margaret.

"She... she has not been herself lately." Emma clears her throat.

"You should keep an eye on her."

The sudden kind-of worry from the Queen alerts her and she almost misses a STOP.

"Why do you say that? Regina, what's going on?"

"Nothing. Just... do as I say, and don't get us killed." She adds when another road sign is missed by the blonde.

* * *

_P.S.: You keep this alive ^^_


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.**

_New chapter for you ^^ I'm loving this, really. I think it is the first time I could go on and on while writing a fic, which, really, doesn't happen so often for me! I'm trying to content myself, however, last chapter had more than 8k words so I have tried to make scenes a little shorter. I don't want to bore you, guys. _

* * *

Goldilocks sticks the bandage on his forehead's most open scratch, not quite as careful as his mother has been. However, he says nothing, not wanting to hurt her feelings.

"So... they left us alone."

"Your mothers are weird."

"Hey, you live with three bears."

"And your grandmother used to live with seven dwarfs." The blonde smiles, teasing him, and he shrugs.

"Wanna play some videogames?"

"What are those?"

"You don't...!?" he gapes. "Come with me." Henry takes her hand before she can reply, pulling her to stand on her feet.

"What are you doing?"

"An intervention. You're lucky I always bring my consoles with me."

The truest believer drags her upstairs, to his old room, which she allows. Goldilocks sits in his bed and waits, peeking everything in sight and trying to control her hands, aching to touch everything.

"What a beautiful amount of clocks you have there." She observes. "And pictures. Are those drawings part of the 'fairytale' books they have here?"

The kid nods. "You don't know what a fairytale is?"

"I know what they are, I just haven't read any from this world. They say they are about things that happened back in mine?"

"They are."

"Would you show them to me too? Please?"

Henry smiles broadly at his new friend, almost excited. "You'll love them!"

It is the first time ever he has the chance to show anyone all he cares about, and they actually are willing to.

* * *

"Well... I can't say that staying at the cabin wasn't a good idea, my dear." The most feared man in Storybrooke yawns whilst holding the naked body of his wife between the sheets tight to his chest, a satisfied smirk plastered to his lips like few Belle has seen in him before.

"I'm glad you liked it."

He laughs at the innuendo and kisses her forehead, letting her slip away, sighting at the loss of her warmth. She looks at him over her shoulder with a naughty smile and a blanket covering her nudity. For the first time since their marriage, he smiles with something that could seemed villains should not have; true happiness. And it makes Belle's heart stretch in her chest until it hurts because maybe he has smiled before, but not in that way. And seeing it wipes every doubt she might have had.

"I should get going, love." She whispers, reaching for her clothes.

"Do you?"

"It's Monday and late already, I can't have the library closed forever."

"Why not?" he takes her hand and kisses it, softly.

"Kids need their books, Rumple!" she laughs.

"There were any libraries back in our land, Belle, and they were just fine..." he trails her arm with soft kisses.

"I really have to go."

"Fine..." he sighs, smirking nonetheless. "Always so liable..."

"That's why you love me." Belle winks, touching his nose with her index as she steps away. "Now... where have I left my skirt? Oh, there it is!" She smiles, recovering it from the chair.

Her sweetness makes Mr Gold's heart ache to the point he could cry. She has been there for him every day, every second during his grieving. How such a beautiful creature exists and loves him is what he asks himself every morning. And above all things, she is his wife, which could not make him happier. He should have started sooner taking care of her instead of spending the first week of their marriage pacing the house like a soul. It seems that a cabin in the middle of nowhere is what he needed to really escape his ghosts. And now that he has, it aches his heart to know that there is still something he did that could hurt her. Deeply. And she can never know.

"I'll be back for lunch, I promise." She smiles, gently kissing his lips, a playful look in her eyes as she turns away to grab her purse, leaving him desiring she would stay a little longer. "Will you prepare something nice for me?"

"Anything for my wife." He replies, nodding and smiling too, although he knows it must be an awkward expression as he has not accustomed to happiness yet.

"I love you." She sighs, lingering a second before finally exiting the cabin.

* * *

Everyone stares at the Queen as she walks gracefully her way through the halls and waiting rooms, her regal deportment stating the abysmal gap between her and the ones she once upon a time and for so long considered rabble. They were bugs, a dross, the filthy gears of a picture so complex it would be hard to begin explaining it to them. She does not look at them, her chin high because now they are merely furniture for all she cares. Then again, she likes her furniture neat and healthy.

Walking behind her Emma can't help but stare too. _She is like Batman_, a tiny voice in the back of her head murmurs with the voice of their son. _She is not the hero they want, but the one they need_. And something tells her that voice is right. She might seem indifferent to other people's feelings, but she has come to the hospital for a reason. It is her turn to be the hero.

"Wait, that means I'm Robin?" the Savior wonders in a whisper, to which the Queen frowns at over her shoulder. Emma lifts her hands in peace with a shy look. "Nothing."

And then she widens her eyes, realizing that saying the name of her last boyfriend —the one she had helped to be stolen away by his wife which was brought back from the dead by her own hand— isn't maybe the wisest thing to do, not even if a known superhero's companion bears the same name and she just happened to be thinking about him.

"Gosh, I — I wasn't talking about..."

The former Mayor's right brow arches as she begins to understand what the comment _was not _about. Still, her voice comes out petty as she can be. "I know it is hard for you, Miss Swan, but try to keep your nonsense _inside _your head."

"Yeah. Sorry." _Surely not the hero that _I _want._

They walk past Tinker Bell and the Nurse Joy, both of them helping the people waiting near the nurse post. Some of the other doctors and nurses have began helping too, moving people around so all of them fit in the small space. The two woman pass them and soon enough they find themselved in the private hall where the asylum door awaits.

"Dr Hopper, Nurse Elethia." Regina greets, emotionless, upon seeing him.

"Regina." He acknowledges, quite confused at her presence.

"I get you have convinced her?" Emma asks, standing next to them.

Elethia is looking at any point away from all of them, clearly embarrased and hurt. Small tears are waiting in her eyes to be released.

"He changed the code, Sheriff..." the nurse sobs, trying to control the shaking of her shoulders. "I... I'm sorry... He must have seen me talking to Dr Hopper through the cameras... they're everywhere..."

Regina sighs.

"Don't worry. That's why I brought Regina." And the former Mayor rolls her eyes as she steps in front of the door leading downstairs. She motions them to step aside as she prepares herself.

"Hey, are you sure you can do this?" Emma whispers, approaching from behind with a concerned tone. "I know your magic has been going crazy lately and —"

"Don't worry, Miss Swan," she gives her a warning look, "I'll imagine your head exploding instead."

"Okay."

Emma takes a step back. Certainly _not _the hero she wants.

Regina takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and raises her fists. Her lungs fill with yet another deep breath before she lets her magic out, flowing through her veins to the skin of her hands, opening them. And the door vanishes.

"Weren't you gonna explode it?"

Regina just rolls her eyes and passes through.

* * *

"I wish I was this brave..." Goldilocks sighs, her thumbs pounding the buttons of Henry's PSV as she tries to beat the second level's boss.

"Me too."

"At least you tried to defend me. I can't even use a stick and the teachers wouldn't let me bring my bow to class..."

"They probably think it's dangerous."

"Hmm."

The giant monster deals damage to the blonde's character once again. Critical hit. Game Over.

"My turn!" Henry cheers rubbing his hands. "See, you have to wait until he ducks to hit." And the Henry's pixelated hero strikes the monster in the head with his gigantic sword. "It needs to be done a couple times."

"Have you ever beaten this game?"

"Tons of times. It's my favorite."

"Huh..."

Henry keeps dodging the gruesome guy's bullets, waiting for the perfect timing. He has not said anything to her, but they are actually playing in the easy mode, so he can almost look at her without losing any hearts. He can feel her beside him, no longer looking at the screen. One quick look and he sees the sad expression of her face.

"Hey, it's okay."

"My fairytale doesn't even have a hero."

"Maybe that's because they were wrote before you had the chance to meet one." He smiles sweetly, tossing the game aside. "Who knows? Maybe you'll become one yourself! It happens a lot."

"I... I don't think so." She shrugs, smiling dreary. "You're the only Prince in my life, Henry."

He blushes deeply and looks away so Goldilocks can't see it.

"Listen, my grandfather was teaching me how to use the sword. How about I taught you what I know?" his voice reaches a sudden high pick and she giggles.

"I'd love to. Oh! And I can teach you how to shoot arrows."

"You know how to?" he marvels.

"Of course! My godfather taught me! He is the best." And she looks away with a look of true wordship in a way that makes Henry's stomach to twist a little.

"I didn't know there wasn't anyone better than my grandmother," he teases, "who's he?"

"Why, Robin Hood, of course!" Goldilocks stares at him, gaping as much as he had upon learning she didn't know what a videogame is.

"Wait. Robin Hood... is your _godfather_?"

"Yes. Well, kinda. He wellcomed me into his Merry Men. I guess he's everyone's." The blonde shrugs.

"You... you are a Merry... Merry what? Merry Woman?"

"Yeah!"

The Queen's son takes a moment to stare at her and process this new information. He had noted Regina acting quite _suspicious_ around the girl, but he would have never guessed it was because of that.

"I know it is pathetic... I should be strong enough to defend myself."

He shakes himself and looks back at her, smiling. "You will be. We can start now if you want to."

"Really? Cool! Come with me. In the forest it's safer to practice and thus I can get my bow and you'll meet my parents and...! Oh! They'll be so happy I met a new friend...!"

"Are you sure Robin Hood won't mind? I mean, after what happened with... with his wife and my —"

"Of course! Don't be silly. He's not like that. C'mon!"

And it is she who this time grabs Henry's hand and pulls him out the mansion, leaving their pixelated hero to die at the hands of the terrible monster boss from the level two.

* * *

"Why!? Why are you doing this!?"

Maleficent just ignored her, tugging her to the gates that leaded to the courtyard. Once there, the draconic woman flickered her staff and a little open shrine appeared out of the stone in the ground, beautifully prepared with what seemed an ivory table.

Aurora needed no explanation then, for she remembered what the witch had done to her mother.

"No! No, please!"

"It's not up to you, sweetheart!" the older woman replied as the throwed her upon the altar. "Now, give your hand."

"Please..." the girl cried, offering her wrist nonetheless.

Everyone was gone. Her Phillip had been turned into a beast and ran away. Her parents, well, they just disappeared, faded away like smoke along with the guards and whomever else was in the castle along her.

Maleficent pulled a silver spindle from her pocket and grinned, holding the Princess's hand in hers, digging her nails into her skin.

"... Why?" She tried once a last time, looking away as the spindle's peak broke the tender flesh of her index, not even trying to stop it.

"Because, my dear, I need my sweetest revenge's blood, and you happen to be so." Maleficent evil smile started to blurry and the world around them twisted. "Good night..." was the last whisper she heard before falling.

The witch sighed, delighted, laying her body down over the altar. She exhaled and saved a few seconds to delight in the striking sight of her nemesis's daughter sleeping in her curse. It tasted sweet, the sweetest she had ever have. It wouldperfect.

She took her hand again to let her blood drip into a vial she had prepared for the occasion. Raising it into the light, the liquid sparkled with magic.

It _was _perfect.

* * *

Aurora shakes her head, her memories confusing inside her head as she cradles her sweet little baby. Did it happen? Did it not? She remembers falling asleep into Maleficent's curse twice, which is simply _impossible. _So, how did it happen? Did Maleficent prick her index or was it herself under some kind of hex? It is giving her a headache.

The sudden knock in office's door startles her, so does her baby.

"Dr Hopper?"

"Oh, hey, Marian. He's not here." Says Aurora, opening the door still cradling her child. "He's gone to the hospital to... talk to someone. Some kind of issue, nothing to worry about. Try not to go over there, today, though!" she quickly adds. Her father taught her that panic is one of the most powerful weapons to destroy a kingdom, and so it is her duty to keep everyone calm. _That's what the therapist would have wanted_, she reassures herself and smiles.

"Oh..." the woman sighs, looking upset. "I shall come later, then."

"Marian, —" the Princess calls her and the lady stops, turning to look back at her, "is... is everything alright? I-if you need to talk to someone, I can..."

She looks at her, and at her baby, nodding. Her eyes fill with withholded tears as she takes a sit in the couch, trembling, maybe afraid of something.

"It's... It's just that..." her voice cracks and she needs a deep breath before even attempting to start again. "He keeps whispering _her _name in his sleep."

"What name?" the newly mother asks. "Regina's?"

The hatred grimace that appears upon Marian's face is enough to say '_yes_'.

"I'm sure it's nothing..." she tries to assure her. "It's understandable, I mean. They were in love, it is a hard blow to swallow."

"Then again I _don't _understand. He has everything he wanted: me, Roland, the Merry Men are happier than ever... and yet, he _remembers _her, that horrible woman! And not only him, but everyone. I heard them whisper the night I arrived... _here_. I know I'm supposed to be dead, I was supposed to die eight years... or thirty-six ago, I don't know. Something about a curse she casted? And yet some of them are sad! They actually _liked _her. How's that even possible!? "

"Marian..." Aurora sighs, taking her hand with the one she has free and smiles as sweetly as she is capable of. "The Evil Queen has changed, believe me. I... _owe _her more than I should, and the town does too."

"How did she fool you?" and Marian does not seem to believe it could happen. It's obvious for the Princess, for she sees how upset the lady already is, so worried Robin might still love the Queen.

"She didn't. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here, neither would my baby or Phillip. She saved us all, she risked her life as extrange that might seem for someone like her. In fact, if it wasn't for her, maybe you wouldn't be here either."

"It was Princess Leia who brought me here."

"And yet it was Queen Regina who stopped Zelena from destroying us all, which was the cause your Princess Leia went down the time portal in the first place."

Marian gapes, trying to process those facts as they have been never told like that to her. Weighing all the knowledge she has about the terrible regal woman, a clear doubt remains on her mind.

"If what you say is true, that would mean that she was... _happy_ and... she tried to be good, which meant that I came back to my husband?"

"In a manner of speaking; yes. If you think about it, she redeemed herself by undoing your murder. More or less."

Of course Aurora knows this isn't totally true. Regina would have never wanted her to come from the past to destroy her newly found happiness. Yet, it happened. And although Emma was to blame for that, the former Mayor was an important and indirect part to it. If she could have Maid Marian to believe it that way, then maybe she would be actually helping someone to be the hero. Which meant that she too was a hero, indirectly at least.

"She really isn't that bad?"

And Princess Aurora shakes her head with an smile, happy she made her understand.

"Regina might seem cold and heartless, but that is just... a façade."

"Then I must talk to Robin and tell him that I learned this, for he always blames himself of my death and by having fell in love with my murderer." The lady stands, decided. "If he sees it this way, _your _way, then maybe he shall be able to forgive himself, and forgive... her."

"Maybe that will help you both move on!" Aurora agrees, trying to contain the exciment she feels about having _finally _helped someone.

"Thank you, Princess." Maid Marian bows politely. "Mulan's fond words were true about you."

She leaves and the newly mother does not try to stop her even if the questions are drowning her. She has seen Mulan every so often since she joined the Merry Men, can't help but wonder how her friend is and why she does not show herself more frequently.

Her baby giggles asking for attention, and Aurora complies with a sigh, trying to forget her worries.

* * *

He has not expected this. He thought he could manage in his own, take his own revenge without help. He has tried, and knows has failed upon seeing them coming down the stairs. Not a second thought takes him to grab the asylum's attendant and put a gun to her head.

"Don't move." He warns in her ear, his eyes fixed in the forms of the people that has entered his lair.

"Whale! Release her!" Emma shouts once her eyes are capable of witnessing the scene, inmediatly pulling her own gun to aim at him.

"Give me the Queen and I will!"

"Please..." Regina sighs, waving her hand. Whale's gun's explosion startles all of them, the poor nurse above all, whose face has been hurt a little. Archie approaches quickly to take her out of the situation and upstairs.

Saving a remark for later, the Sheriff approaches, focused, forcing him to kneel and place his hands behind his head.

"This has to end, Whale."

"She is dangerous!" he replies, desperately.

"That is not yours to decide." She insists. "The town made a decision."

"But they don't know —!"

"Don't know _what_?"

"That I tortured him." It is Regina who answers.

"What?" Emma turns to look at her, confused, and for a moment she distinguishes regret, and maybe worry. It is brief, for the Queen looks away from her to their prisoner almost inmediatly, but it was there. She knows it was, it is the same grimace the regal woman had when their son almost died because of a poisoned apple pie.

"Long ago, we had him to revive my dearly departed Daniel in exchange of an enchanted heart for his brother. When I found he had tricked me, I had him locked up in my dungeon," Regina admits, sighing and staring at his eyes, softly, "and tortured. He and his... wife."

"Elizabeth..." he whispers, looking down.

"I ripped her heart out." The Queen looks at the Savior, her voice steady and calm. If she really regrets something, she is not showing. "And then I killed her."

The room falls silent for a moment, sinking into her last words.

"It was a punishment, Dr Whale." Regina says after a minute.

"That doesn't help, Regina!" Emma whispers, pitying the poor quiet crying Doctor which only makes it worse.

"_But_," she continues, piercing the Sheriff with a deadly gaze, "your punishment should have ended long ago."

"How?" the man raises his head, confused, his face wet with tears. "She's..."

"I preserved her body." Although she does not say what for, it is clear for the other woman that the reason behind it is the same for why she locked Belle up. Leverage. "And I shall give it to you."

"What's the trick?" he inmediatly asks, forgetting about the weapon on his head and standing up.

"You have to let it go, drop all this, don't take it on the people of Storybrooke." Emma says and he nods. The blonde sighs, lowering her gun before turning to Regina.

"It is back in my world, Dr Whale." The older woman adds. "I will aid you into finding a path back. Others will too as I'm sure they want to go back too. Then, the corpse shall be yours."

"And what use is it to me? You saw what happened to Daniel!"

"I'm sure you'll find another way to bring her back to life, my dear. Science is _all _you need, right?" the woman archs a brow before turning to walk away. She is halfway up the stairs when he expresses a reluctant apology and gratitude. "You're welcome." She barely replies before exiting.

* * *

The beauty of the land was such that mermaids would pale in comparison. They would give their fins to posess a portion of something just to compare. She _hated _it. Her hands ached with destruction, longing for a fire she could barely conten withing herself.

"Come on, dearie, the King awaits." Rumplestilskin hand softly pressed her back forwards, motioning her towards a white and blue carriage awaiting them.

The coachman bowed before them and offered a hand to help her get inside. She was about to deny it when her master's gaze caught hers, warningly.

"Thank you." She whispered, their eyes still fixed.

The horses' trot was pleasant as a lullaby. She snorted.

"You feel it, don't you, dearie? The _air_, its overwhelming goodness suffocating you, as if it were trying to erase all the disdain you harvor." He giggled.

"That shall not ever happen." She answered with a fiery look.

"I expected nothing less."

The forest was left behind as their transport moved along the path, revealing an marvellous sight of the kingdom, green as it could be, its waters shining to a cloudless sky. It was breathtaking.

"Where are we going?"

"The King's castle. He likes them... _naïve_." He whispered, his eyes roaming her frame top to bottom with a wicked smile on his lips.

"That's why I'm dressed like this?" she said, disgusted by her own clothes.

"You shall play an apprentice, my dear, a powerful white witch of my choice!"

"But _why _am I here? I could cast the curse without having to glance at his stu—"

"My, my... you underestimate my teaching skills, do you? Do you really think you're that powerful?" and his hand raised to grasp the air, magically binding that space to her neck.

"N-No. I... I just —" She gasped.

"You what, dearie? You think yourself above all? Haven't I taught you what a powerful observation can do to your enemies?"

"Y-You have..."

He tilted his head. "Maybe I should _kill _you and do this myself..." He growled, tightening his grasp. "Such a dissapointment."

Regina looked at him, tears runing down her cheeks and a hurt look on her eyes. She was not beging. She would not, he knew that. Cora had taught her not to, and sometimes those were the lessons he wished she would not have taught her, for he enjoyed hearing his preys beg, and Regina almost never did even if her face did.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered with all the strength in her voice, looking down as her skin paled.

"Real curses need more than a few whispered details, my dear. And you clearly lacking the wits to —"

"I will... be... as innocent as a flower, master. I... I shall not... shall not dissapoint you again."

Oh, how he _loved _she called him master. The seldom times she had, it had draw a mad grin in his lips. He released her. Regina flexed as she coughed for air, the color finally reaching her face.

"If you do, I will make you _beg to die_. Oh, and keep that scared look in your eyes, my dear," he grinned, "it's perfect."

* * *

"So... what happened with that spell back there, huh?"

Emma has accompained her back to the mansion, an awkward silence embracing the car trip. It is extrange to think how long the little adventure was, and how well it all ended up considering Dr Whale's stubborn nature.

"I don't know what are you talking about, Miss Swan."

"You know... you _vanished _the door, but _exploded_ the gun... shouldn't it had been the other way around?"

"I don't have to explain my ways to you." Regina replies opening the door. She is about to close the door in the Savior's nose when this one speaks again, softer than before.

"Hey... you did a good job back there." She smiles, changing her weight from one to the other foot. "You saved the day."

"Th-Thank you." The brunette frowns, a little confused but, to Emma, it seems a good confusion. It is only confirmed when the door she is holding changes its color.

"I like that blue TARDIS." She compliments.

"What? Oh." The Mayor sighs taking a step aside. "TARDIS?"

"Yeah... it's a... science... portal? Just ask Henry about it." Emma waves her hand, downplaying it. An awkward silent second goes by where the inquisitive arched-brow look of the brunette pierces her face. She can almost hear it buzz. "By the way, about Robin..."

"I told you, Miss Swan, that's private."

"Aurora called Archie... Marian was there this morning..." she starts, not sure of where to begin.

"I don't want to hear it."

"Apparently, she is going to talk to Robin into forgiving you, so... that's good news, right?"

Although masterly masked, Regina lets out a relieved sigh.

"I'm not forgiving you, if that's what you are trying to ask."

"I just... I know I screwed up, okay? I know it isn't much, they are still going to be together but... hey, he may forgive you and talk to you, right? And that's good. We don't have to be friends —"

"We are certainly not." The Queen rolls her eyes.

"— but let me know if you need something, or help, or whatever. I'll be there, I'm the Sheriff. And Henry needs you. Don't hate me... for Henry."

The truth is that she already hates herself for being so stupid, not listening to Hook and thinking she could manage things in her own, as if the Doctors of several TV series had not told enough times to his companions that time _cannot be changed_, as much as one wishes to.

Regina just stares at her, her eyes black as night, expresionless. Emma waits, just hoping, and finally, she speaks.

"I will... _tolerate _you."

"Thank you!" the blonde smiles, broadly.

"That's not forgiveness, Miss Swan, I understand you are aware of that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." But her voice betrays her, as she speaks not giving it much of a thought.

For a moment, this seems the day when Storybrooke will finally find its peace, evil finally conquered by good as the last battle comes to an end. There is nothing left that could hurt the people living under the little magic bubble in Maine, and so it appears to be the end of an era. Problems will arise, of course, as they always do, but hope none of them will try to destroy their town. Regina's goodbye is almost a curse-breaker word, sending this hope through all the fairytale people. Everything seems to fall into place, willing to stay that way forever.

Wouldn't it be naïve to believe so?

* * *

_P.S.: You keep this alive ^^_


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.**

_Today's notes are at the end of the chapter :) I hope you enjoy it as much as the others!_

* * *

The house is empty when she closes the door and, partially, she is relieved it is so. Of course she would rather be with Henry than alone, but he needs to get out and play and... be a boy. The boy she, as her mother —even if she is an adoptive one—, allowed him to be a year ago, giving him all those fake memories. Even if it wasn't real, it would define what he has lived during that time they were separated.

But, on the other hand, Regina needs to be by herself for a while. She has not been able to since last night, and it is not something she is really accustomed to. She likes loneliness, it is good for one's inner development. In this case, that development consist in regaining control of her own magic, and she needs Henry away while that is happening. Magic always comes with a price, Rumplestilskin's mantra, and it has been proven true over the years. It has been bad enough as it has, it could be much worse if it happened without her consent.

Today has been a _long _day. There was something she liked to do after such days, something she would be proud of no matter what, that was hers and could not be taken away. She liked to practice magic, using the worst things and memories as motivation to draw all her magic. It used to relax her. It still does.

Something she has discovered today is the efect of her feelings and thoughts in the way her magic obeys her intentions. Her master had taught her about this, of course, she just never realised how really important it could be. Then again, Regina had never had an emotional breakdown before, nor have used white magic right before one.

Regina sits in the sofa at the small library she shared with her stepdaughter and Belle last night, fixing her eyes in the apples lying in the table right in front of her. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, her hand opened upwards. The apple appears in her hand without delay, which is a good sign. Basic spells are still working as they do not need good nor bad emotion, just the desire of doing it. It is like moving a limb; one does not think about it, just do it.

Placing the apple in the table, the formidable evil witch tries another exercise. This time, she wants to make it explode, just as the door she vanished by accident. After a minute, she gives up. It does not work. She is feeling the magic in her fingertips, but the spell is not correct. It keeps changing, as if something else was taking place under her skin, something like a transformation spell.

_Could it be?_ She wonders.

The sudden opening of the front door startles her completely, followed by the fruit, exploding. Thankfully, her reflexes act for her casting a shield that prevents it from littering everything.

"Mom!" her boy calls, a broad smile on his lips. "What's there for lunch? Can mom -I mean- Emma lunch with us? Please?" He seems really excited, almost jumping. There is dirt all over his face, he does not seem to care as he keeps insisting about inviting his adoptive mother to lunch with them, which will take him a little reprimand. But he will get it, eventually.

* * *

She has finally let him in, the shadow of anger darkening her features as she steps aside, holding their baby with the look of a lioness.

"Snow..." Charming sighs, closing the door and letting his hands rest upon his wife's shoulders. "Nobody thinks you are a bad mother."

"They do!"

David sighs, knowing that trying to convice her of the contrary will not help with the situation.

"Then I don't. I promise you. You are a wonderful mother. And I love you."

"I'm sorry..." she whispers, tears of rage running down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry..." she sobs, leaning into his embrace, their son lightly squished between their bodies. "It's just... I'm... I'm so _angry _at _everything_. I don't know how to..."

"Don't worry." He sighs. "You need to rest, surely it is just stress about..."

"It's not!" she yelps, stepping back with a hurt expression. "No, you don't understand."

"Snow..." the Prince tries again, but she quickly moves away before he can touch her.

"No!"

"Then _tell me _what is happening!"

The sudden yell makes her froze, her eyes fixed in him as if she didn't know him. An unreadable grimace crosses her face and, for a moment, David fears she is going to throw him out again. This time, however, she just hugs Neal and nods, slowly, before walking towards the sofa and motioning him to accompany her.

"I... I killed Cora." She begins, shuddering.

"I thought we talked about this. You have to let it go... Maybe it wasn't the best way, but you protected all of us."

"I know. It's not that... I... Back then, I asked Regina to kill me. I begged her."

"You what?"

"She didn't. She ripped out my heart, but she didn't. She showed it to me instead. There... there was dark inside it, and she predicted it would spread over us... over our family."

"And you think it has started?" Charming frowns, worried, taking her hand.

"I have been lying, David." She cries. "Yesterday, I lied. I don't think about Regina as my mother, but she's helped us so much lately... I just wanted to help her. She's our friend, isn't she?"

He wouldn't say that much, but nods nonetheless.

"Again not the best way but... the right thing." He tries, not knowing what to do to ease her mind but to slip his arms around her shoulders, welcoming her into his embrace.

"Darkness starts that way, it always does..." she sighs. "She started like that, trying to free herself from her mother by using magic. And Zelena, she just wanted to know why she was abandoned... It will only take me a one good reason to fall completely and —"

"I think you're just overthinking it, Snow," he says softly, kissing her forehead, "why don't you try and sleep? After that we can go lunch at Granny's."

"You think so?"

"I do. C'mon. I'll make you some tea."

* * *

It is about noon when the dwarves approach the convent with a stack of planks for a new day of work. They, along with the nuns, have been repairing Storybrooke. It is something both parties have grown accustomed to, seeing how often destruction comes to their little town. And they can be proud, their efficiency and synchronization would almost be a legend if it didn't happen as much.

However, the nuns seem to have another plans for today. They are coming out the building in pairs, walking side by side away and past them. Some of the women even greet at them. It is the resigned smile of one of them that can make a dwarve's little heart sink into nothingness.

"Hey! What's going on? Where are they going?" Leroy asks as he comes out his van to comfront the Mother Superior, maybe just a little to agressively.

"We received a call from the Hospital," she smiles not really feeling it and yet amicable, "Tinker Bell told us what happened. They are opening a new ward just for magical wounds and creatures. Some of us voluntereed to help."

The dwarf turns to look helplessly at the row of nuns walking away. "Is it really necessary? We need —" he clears his throat, noticing how his tone is sinking into something he would rather not show, "we need to repair the library and get some stuff done in the forest."

"I'm sorry, Leroy." The nun sighs coming down a step and joining her hands in front of her waist. "They need us."

"We do too!" the little man exclaims, almost loosing his temple as it becomes clear that he is not begging for 'help'.

"I heard about your help at the Hospital. You should rest too." The Mother Superior tries to pass by him after her statement, her expression falling back into something between indifference and annoyance.

"Lend me one of them at least." Leroy pleads desperately and exhales.

The woman turns to him in the last second and observes him carefully.

"Take Nova with you if you must."

"Thank you." A grateful smile appears on his lips as he bows and puts his hat on.

"Don't think I am not aware of the nature of your relationship, dwarf," she adds, with a tone full of sadness and worry, when he almost runs to the group of nuns that is crossing the street in front of the convent, "and I can assure you as I did the last time; you may enjoy it now, but will bring nothing but sorrow in the future."

* * *

The mist swirls around the floor, flowing in the darkness as the day goes by, drawing figures she can't quite understand. The tiniest light is capable of showing the most terrible of her fears, the most cruel form of her wishes and yet, they are always away. There they lay as her old body aches for a fresh start, something to move for, a muscle to raise a hand for the unreachable. _The wait has been long, but so shall __be__ their pain_, she reminds herself each passing day.

It has been a long time, minutes of desperation crawling through her skin, through her every bone, igniting a dark fire inside her that, she knows, belongs out, eating the burning bodies of the people that imprisoned her.

But now the wait must come to an end. And as her body raises from its long slumber, she remembers. She recalls every dying whisper coming from outside, every step of their careless lives as they fought, they cried, they pleaded. It moves her limbs, it fills her lungs. It makes her stand in her feet and wish, but wishing is not enough. She has had enough of that. She shall recover what she lost. No, not what she lost. What they _stole_.

It is time for this little bird to spread her wings and fly.

* * *

The King is nothing like she had imagined, had extracted from Rumplestilskin's words. Yet, he was true. The benevolent man dressed in nice white clothes likes them naïve, just because he would not bear to trust someone who was not. He could not imagine a world where a person, man or woman, could hold a power such to try and rule them all.

"And this innocent child will free us, you say?" the old man asked, staring at her but talking to her master.

"Indeed." Rumplestilskin bowed.

The man took Regina's hands and looked her right in the eyes, a smile of gratitude so bright her husband would envy him.

"Will you free us from the twisted witch, my lady?"

With a flick of his hand, masked as any other gesture he would make later, the Dark One forced a blush into his apprentice cheeks as she mimmed an unrequested one. Looking down and then back at the King under her lashes, she smiled and nodded, the red already taking over her face.

"No one shall ever again suffer in this kingdom, Your Majesty, as far as that I can promise you."

"Then, my heroine, I take your word."

Pleased, the ruler of the irritantingly beautiful kingdom kissed the back of both her hands before shaking Rumplestilskin's hand.

"Thank you, brave Knight, for bringing me this fair woman to heal my land from that abominable being."

"That's what Healers are for, Your Majesty." The Dark One bowed and Regina frowned slightly, amused, as the King seemed to believe they were some kind of fantasy characters of another realm.

He invites them to enter his magnificent palace, a white structure that rises into the skies accompanied of numerous thin towers and battlements that find its way to each other through beautiful bridges in the air. It catched her breath, but just provoked a smirk in Rumplestilskin's face.

"It's beautiful..." Regina let herself sigh, believing it would only benefit their play.

"Pardon her, Your Majesty," her master started instead, frowning at her as he seemed not to agree, "she's too young, doesn't —"

"Don't worry, Knight," the kind King smiled turning around, "sincerity should never be punished."

And when he turned back to keep leading the way, Regina looked at her master, her turn to smile triumphantly this time as he bowed his head discreetly and motioned her to follow the ruler. Her master seemed pleased. She had to give him a point, she had underestimated their work.

_Oh, but how much Snow and I are going to enjoy this in the future..._

* * *

"She's just _so _fantastic! I _love _her!" Henry continues on and on bambling about how fantastic Goldilocks is, how well they understand each other and how great is it to have a girl as a friend that does not talk about make-up '_like all the time_'.

"I thought you were not into that. You know: '_girls, uggh_'." Emma teases, smiling at him. The thirteen-year-old blushes violently, gaping, eyes opened as he realizes his mistake.

"N-No! I didn't mean...! What I meant is...! I _love _her like I love, I don't know... Hulk, or Superman. She's like a superhero." He shrugs, trying to downplay it as he fills his mouth with food. Emma laughs, but says no more.

Regina has not talked since he has started, and that has been a while. She has not reply, nor commented, her only motion has been the one of eating and hearing, and it is only when silence falls between the three of them that Henry notices this.

"Mom? Is there something wrong?"

"She just doesn't like you going out with that Goldilocks girl." Emma answers, quickly enough to earn an annoyed look from the other woman.

"I can speak for myself, Miss Swan, thank you very much."

"Why? Is it because Robin's her godfather?" Henry continues, frowning.

"Robin's her _what_!?" It is Emma, again, who asks, unbelieving.

"Yeah, but he is _super _cool with it, really!" He insists, looking back at his other mom, his adoptive one.

"Did he say something?" Emma tries, seeing the longing look behind the Queen's eyes, knowing she would never ask because it would be '_unbecoming_'.

"That is _non _of our business, Miss Swan."

"But —" She tries.

"Let it be." Regina pierces her with a gaze.

"Okay..." The blonde sighs, rolling her eyes.

She can't argue in that, being it all her fault, not after Regina having kind-of-forgotten her. Which is much to say. Sighing once again, she stares at both of her partners at the table, waiting for another topic to talk about. Having lunch with Henry for a year has accustomed her to talking while it, to the point where not having a proper conversation with the people she is eating with makes her quite uncomfortable.

"So... what did you two do today?" She offers and Henry does not dissapoint him.

"Oh, we went to the forest!" He starts again, excited. "And... Robin... taught us to shoot an arrow. Well, she already _knew _how, 'course, but..."

"He _what_!?" Both his mothers exclaim.

"I don't want you near that forest _ever _again, Henry." Regina stares worried at him, almost demanding.

"But...! _Mom_...!"

"Listen to your mother, kid, that's dangerous."

"But I want to be able to —!"

"You don't need to know how to shoot an arrow, Henry. It is bad enough having your grandfather teaching you how to cut yourself with a sword already."

"The only thing you need is to go to school, there you will learn everything you need to survive."

And that is the first time both Regina Mills and Emma Swan ever agreed fully in something. An awkward silence falls afterwards, Henry looking desperately from one to another, hoping he can make one of them pity him. He eventually gives up. Having lived with both women all his life —even if one of them is made up of fake memories— he knows that is a lost battle.

"Hey, kid..." It is Emma who starts this time. "Talking about superheros... you know who was one today?"

"Who? You?" He even seems relieved to know that at least one of his mothers is not mad at him.

"Regina!"

"Miss Swan!" she scolds her. Henry should not know about the hospital at all.

"You know, " she continues nonetheless, "there was some kind of riot at the hospital. I convinced her to come with me and help..."

"... I more of offered myself..." the former Mayor add between her babbling, rolling her eyes.

"... (that only makes you a lot more superhero) and she walked over there with this look on her face... I thought she was going to yell '_I'm Batman!_' to whomever crossed her way!"

"Wait, doesn't that make you Robin?"

"That's what she said."

Emma chokes at the clearly unintended innuendo, flushing as Henry's incredulous gaze and shrieks of laughter fill the room.

"What? What have I said? What is so funny?" Regina frowns, looking at both of them with a confused smile, which only makes Henry laugh further.

* * *

He is waiting her by the door of her new apartment, a bottle in his right hand and, well, a pirate hook in the other. Not that he has a choice in that one, after all.

"I thought the bottle had to be empty." The blonde Sheriff smiles, reaching the top step of the floor.

"It does not matter as far as it is a bottle, luv," He winks, bring her closer with a soft motion of his hook, "and we get to drink it."

It has been a hell of a week. They have only get to meet ever so often, stealing moments from here and there as they start to really look in each other. Henry knows about their relationship, of course, her parents do to, but she feels she needs to keep this private for a while. After all, her son did not get to know her last boyfriend until it was absolutely necessary and with all the Regina thing going on, there has not been a proper time to bring up the topic.

"And how should I name this vessel, then?" She teases.

"That's yours to decide." He whispers, closing the short distance between their bodies and raising the bottle.

"I thought a pirate could give me some clues." She laughs, moving away her face.

"Then we can discuss that over the bottle at dinner." He captures her lips before she can complain, leaving her only the choice to sigh happily and lean into the kiss.

Today, however, the time has come.

_It's time to come out of the closet. Or the ship. Whatever._

"I'm sorry, _mate_, but you'll have to hold on that one."

"Why?"

"Celebration dinner, remember?" And he lets out an exasperated snort. "And yes, it is mandatory for you too. I'm not having a dinner with both my parents _and _Regina without some escort."

"I should have never enrolled in this boat."

"Shame it is too late." Emma smirks.

"It always is when you sign with your heart..." he sighs before kissing her again.

* * *

He holds her hand, guiding her through the woods, helping her down the small steeps. Their walk is silent yet filled with giggles and smalls peeks at each other as they approach the place where their feelings are free to dance around with no one to judge them.

"Do you think this is right?" she whispers shyly, leaning in his shoulders as he helps her get down from the trunk.

"It's not like we're ever getting back to the Enchanted Forest, right?" he shrugs. "No one knows about us."

"I don't want you to get hurt because... because of me."

"We have nothing else to lose, Nova." He exhales, caressing her cheek.

"I know, but... t-the Mother Superior said —"

"She doesn't know what she says." She sighs and nods. "C'mon. We're almost there."

He is right. They are just a few trees away from the abandoned cabin. Reaching the cabin a moment is granted to recover their breaths, their eyes fixing in each other's at the same time that a childish naughty smile spreads on both their faces.

"I love you, Nova."

"I love you too, Leroy."

They kiss after that, passionately, trying to make it last for the time they have been apart, for the time they will be until their next meeting. The tall fairy is trembling into his arms. It takes him several seconds to notice she is crying.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes... I... I'm just... so _happy_."

He smiles and pulls her against the small cabin's door. Which yields.

"What is this!?" An angry voice yells to the laughing couple in the floor. They look up, startled.

"Mr Gold!" the dwarf exclaims, standing up as fast as his body allows him. The nun does the same, flushing violently. "W-What are you doing here? This is private property!"

It seems they have interrupted some kind of romantic lunch.

"Hi, Belle..." Nova mutters to the young librarian sitting at the small table. The girl nods and smiles, concerned. She is not judging them, the nun knows, but is worried nonetheless.

_I'm in so much trouble now..._, she laments for herself.

"M-Maybe we should go now, Leroy, i-it's okay..." the fairy tries, holding his arm.

"I gather this cabin is yours, then?" the older man has got up and is walking towards them, a challenging look in his face as he comes nearer, his brow arched in a very characteristic way. "I think not. For, you see, I happen to own this town. Now, get off."

"Rumple..." Belle pleads, standing up too. This seems to calm the beast menacing to come out of Mr Gold's body to eat them alive.

"I'm sorry." Leroy takes advantage of this to correct himself and turn tail with his fairy.

"Reckless little —" Rumplestilskin complains, fixing the door with a little magic.

"I think it's sweet." Belle sighs, sitting down. "They're in love."

"Their relationship is impossible." He states, joining her at the table. The careless couple has turn off some the candles he had so lovely placed around the room.

"Ours is too, but I still love you." She reminds him with a sweet smile. "Don't be so _grumpy_ about it."

Her husband gazes at her, unable to deny he is amused by her wits. "I'll have them know when we are done here." He sighs, taking his fork and knife. "Is that better for you?"

She nods, a bigger smile spreading over her lips.

* * *

"I don't understand. What do you get out of the deal, then?"

"The _pleasure _of helping my fellows." His wicked smile made her shiver.

"I am sure _that_ is not."

The Dark One shrugged, amused. "Then I am afraid it is none of your business, dearie. Now, be a _good_ girl and change your clothes!" he winked .

"Are we going back to our realm yet?" Regina snorted, looking away from the windoe. So much beauty hurt her eyes.

"Why! Of course not, dearie! We have another client to attend to."

"And who would that be?"

"The Twisted Witch of the Dark Marshes!" his hands waved in the air, dramatically, as a wicked smirk of his own appeared at her confused grimace.

"I thought..."

"Then you clearly thought wrong."

"Are you double crossing the King?" horror filled her gaze.

It was true Regina may had wished to burn his _precious little forest_, but the ruler was too kind. Although her qualms had long ago been smitten to dust by the man she called 'master', she saw no need of such execution.

"Any trouble with that in your little mind?" he asked with a disgusted grimace she had so often seen in his face.

Quickly shaking her head, she reconsidered it and shrugged. "What should I wear? I get the Twisted Witch is not into _naïvity_?"

The darkness he had so carefully placed in her heart surfaced to her eyes once more, and he relaxed, getting comfier in the small place the carriage offered, almost lying down entirely over it.

"Surprise me."

The purple fog product of her own magic wrapped her body up at the flick of her hand. She inspired in it and focused on a very specific outfit she had back in her kingdom. The silk that caressed her skin changed to leather oppressing her legs, the flats turning into heel boots, the wide sleeves up to her wrists shortened. When the smoked dissapeared, only a Queen remained. Her body was protected by a tight red corset of golden seams that held her ribs from the waist to the cleavage, its back growing to her shoulders, from where a regal fin grew. Crimson velvet fell from her waist into a large tail, showing a pair of black leather breeches. The dark make-up and the hair combed over her head gave her an intimidating look.

"Those robes will be defiled there where we're going, dearie." Rumplestilskin teased her, arching a brow but pleased nonetheless.

"They are enchanted." She smirked, and he did too.

The scenery softly started to change as their carriage approached the Dark Marshes. The grass turned darker, the forest wider, the trees taller. The sky seemed to cloud as the point for the meeting grew nearer.

"A suggestion." He offered her a small phial containing a blue potion as he drank one alike.

"What is that?" the Queen asked, taking it suspiciously.

"She has some _delicate_ tastes. We would not want you throwing up in our client, now, would we?" he replied, annoyed. "You can either drink or hold your stomach."

Regina drank, knowing that if the Dark One could not bear it, no one would.

As people tend to differentiate good from bad as light and dark, black and white, when they arrived, Regina discovered that '_Dark Marshes_' was just an euphemism. Certainly there were no marshes nor were they dark, yet the soil was wet, and soon enough she would notice the surfacing liquid to be blood. She gasped when the remains of a half-eaten body fell from a nearby tree, becoming target of her eyes as they walked past the border into the woods of the Twisted Witch.

* * *

Charming has convinced his wife to take care of the preparations for tonight's party, and she has obliged him to buy all the food and decorations needed for the '_disaster of an apartment_' their daughter has for a living place. It has succesfully distracted her from her worries. They even almost ran into a rather unpleasant memory of Emma and her boyfriend between blankets in the floor of the so-called disaster place. Luckily, the bolt she had installed upon renting the apartment saved them all. Now, the time for dinner has arrived and everyone is getting ready. The Charmings are preparing the food in the kitchen while the new little family their daughter, Hook and Henry are starting to make chat merrily at the plastic table Granny lent them.

It is a happy and peaceful sight, something delightful that seemed it would never arrive. A picture she would rather be a part of, but knows she will never fully belong to.

She leans over little Neal's crib as she passes by, taking advantage of the momentary solitude in the room to smile at him without prying eyes watching her every action, judging her. The baby looks at her with big curious eyes, which she could consider one of the most happy reactions she has ever get from a baby, for the others seem to cry upon seeing her anywhere near them. This one, Prince Neal, is known to be a giggler. With Regina, however, he only stares, as if waiting for something. She smiles at him, nonetheless, and caresess his cheek with her fingertip. Neal reminds her of Henry as baby, although a lot more quieter.

A small, shy smile brightens his face for a second, and her only grows bigger. Without giving it a second thought, she conjures a thin rattle made of ivory in her fingers, and places it on his. His sloppy fingers grasp the thing, eyes studying the new form that has appeared out of nowhere. It is something similar to a gift, she thinks. She has never been one to give things just because of pregnancy, but this one she felt he deserves.

And then he giggles, shaking his new toy. Maybe it is true she is changing for good.

"Regina," Emma calls softly, peering through the door. Upon seeing her, the Queen straigthens herself and raises her chin, not wanting to expose that much her weakness for children. But if the blonde has seen something, she says nothing, "dinner's ready."

Although the former Mayor and Evil Queen can't deny she enjoys having, finally, a family to look after, she will never say she does outloud. It is just too personal. And they probably would not believe her, anyway. Henry has insisted in having his birth mother for lunch and his adoptive mother for dinner. "_I haven't seen her in a year, I miss her..._", he had said, making her smile involuntarily. The Sheriff accepted, of course, after a second of doubting. Regina, personally, would have preferred she hadn't. It is a celebration dinner. It would have been bad enough to have to dine with the Charmings and their offspring, and now a mucky pirate has been added to he mix. It is just too crowded for her out there, she needed to take a breath.

And Neal just happened to be in the same room, giggling at the nothingness he could see above him.

* * *

Storybrooke is a little town where magic just happens. If one could say places love or hate their inhabitants, then Storybrooke would be the type of town that is indifferent to them. Live and let live, would be its saying. It holds its buildings in place as far as destructions allows, and the people living there takes care of fixing them. It is a good relationship that has lasted for almost three decades now. If Storybrooke had a soul, it would wish to keep this peace forever.

However, today is bound to change everything. Today is the day for a new end and a new beggining, the day a death sentece is pronounced and a wave of pure magic shakes the earth, piercing through its entrails as a growl shatters the skies.

And with the explosion of the town's library, the newly found peace in Storybrooke begins to crumble down into ashes.

* * *

**_I wanted to express some thoughs in this last part of the chapter, I hope you don't mind =)_**

**_Firstly, I wanted to thank you all for your support (again, but I can't stress it enough). Secondly, apologize if this chapter seemed something like a drabble collection. I can promise you it will all make sense in the future, hold on there!_**

**_And last but not least, I wanted to reply a review a guest left me._**

Dear Guest, I guess you will never read this, but I want to answer you nonetheless. I wanted you to know that I'm happy that you left a review, even if it was to say you would read it no longer, and I'm sad you thought Snow and Charming were turned into extremely OoC support characters just to fit in a Regina-centered fic. It is true I started this fic thinking of a (probably) Swan Queen story, but the truth is too that I found joy and fun in writing about other characters too. And so, in the first chapter, it was already becoming what it is now. I know I am not the best writter. In fact, English is not my first language. But I like to write thinking of how it would happen in the series, if it would fit, give the characters a reason to be like they are, to do what I need them to do. Let's not forget this is a fan fiction. It is fiction done by a fan of a show, and so there will be events that change the characters.

I wish you would have stayed a little longer, so you could see how deeply I care about them being in their characters. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, I'm sure I screwed up somewhere, I just wish you would have stayed to point me where.

**_Well, to the rest of you, thank you for staying. _**

**_P.S.: You keep this alive ^^_**


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.**

**WARNING: This chapter contains semi-explicit gore content that could hurt some sensibilities.**

_I'm rating this fic T because of the blood and the gore, but I hope you like it nonetheless!_

* * *

The deeper they got into the forest, the more blood surrounded them. Every step they took seemed to lead to another half-eaten body, another deflated eyeball in the way of their shoes, another sharp bone hooking their clothes.

"Are you alright?" Rumplestilskin wondered outloud, amused by every look and grimace the Queen made at the macabre show around them.

"I can not conceive how you could be." She replied sharply. "Did you not take the potion too? It doesn't seem as you would need one."

"Oh, dearie, this is nothing I would be disgusted by!" He laughed darkly. "I've been to war, remember? Worse things are seen there."

"Then why did you take it?"

"Because, my dear, what lies up ahead..." The Dark One wavered, it could not be a good sign. "Let us say I do not want to risk offending our dear guest, shall we?"

If something was capable of upsetting Rumplestilskin's mind, there could be no words to describe such thing.

Full corpses started becoming more frequent as they advanced, and not later a small hut appeared above the trees. Literally above them, for it was standing in what seemed two long, strong chicken legs. Its nails dripped with blood and rotten meat, torned human limbs circled them. It was such a disgusting scenario that Regina herself wanted to turn away and flee from there.

She could not imagine what waited up there and she did not want to know it either.

"Are you ready?"

She took a moment. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing her mind. And then, hesitatingly, she nodded. The Dark One needed no more. His magic transported them upwards, changing the ground beneath their shoes from wet soil to slippery wood. He catched her before she could fall down the platform as he said:

"Careful, dearie."

She smiled back sarcastically, using her grip in his arms to get back to her feet. Her eyes fell inmediatly to the floor. The hut's porch was covered in blood, too. Scratches, marks of nails begging for mercy, traced to the door everywhere. From the windows, from the walls, from the soaked wood of the floor, as if someone had hauled a hundred victims inside.

"Beholding the dam trophies of our witch, Regina?" Rumplestilskin laughed, a big, saddistic smile brightening his face.

"Let's get this over with." She growled, infuriated but not knowing really why or with whom.

* * *

"Guys," Emma starts after a long pause where the Charmings, Hook and Regina have been settling for what it seems will be a rather unpleasant _celebration dinner, _"I'm going to need some help with all the paperwork at the station later. You know, all the hospital thing... I'm late and —"

"You have always been." Regina remarks not looking at her, or anyone for that matter, as she remains focused in her food.

"Whatever. Someone's up for some late night work?"

The captain snorts, amused, but holds whatever comment that could have passed his mind. Henry looks confused for a moment, his grandfather seems to stare at the pirate, warningly.

"I could lend you a hand." David finally offers.

"Aren't you supposed to take care of the Town Hall?" Henry asks, a devious smile starting to appear on his young features.

"It is your family's disrupted way of having what needs to be done, done, Henry." The former Evil Queen explains, a comment that goes unheeded for the rest as they are now accustomed to such complains.

"He's right," Emma sighs, nonetheless, "and Mary Margaret can't right now."

"I'm sorry." Snow looks at her husband with sad eyes.

"Aye..." Hook muses after swallowing. "Wasn't she the Mayor?" he points at Regina with his fork in a rather unpolitely way which causes the later to sigh disgusted.

"The situation is... _delicate_," the Sheriff explains with a look that very well explains there are some subjects her kid is not aware of, "it is better if she remains out of the public eye for a while... at least not in a power position."

The pirate shrugs. "Let her handle it in the shadows, your parents can take the credit for her."

Emma weighs the idea and looks at Regina, who has grinned her teeth but say nothing. She can tell the former Mayor is not pleased with the idea of someone doing her job —and doing it wrong, according to her — nor being treated like a child that needs protection. But the woman is trying really hard to fit in, to not give in to her darkest desires, the ones involving skinning alive people. The Sheriff can't blame her for feeling uncomfortable around the Charmings, herself included, or Hook. They are she has left. And given that she has not tried to kill them after what happened to Robin, it seems only logical to try and normalize their situation.

It is Henry, however, who gives a solution to their problem.

"Hey, what if _she _helps you with your paperwork and granpa takes care of the Town Hall? You don't have to be her deputy!" He quickly adds upon seeing his mother irritated look at the current Sheriff. "More of a consultant or something. That way she can take the credit and make sure you don't screw up," words that earn him a disaproving look from both her grandmother and adoptive mother, "which ultimately would lead to a good job done at the Hall, right?"

The strange look everyone gives him makes him feel quite uncomfortable, practically screeming 'when did you grow up so much?' with their eyes. He can't help but to flush and sink in his seat. " 'Twas just an idea, you know..."

"So, what do you think?" Emma nods, agreeing to the idea as she turns to stare at the brunette, who sighs once again.

"Although I doubt your progenitor's abilities in coping with the Town Hall's issues, I believe..."

Her long around-the-bush speech is cut when a sudden shake of the earth takes place, followed by the sound of an explosion and a terrible growl coming from the town's center.

Silence falls as they look at each other, paling for the moment.

"What was that?" the kid is the first to ask, noticeably scared.

Hook and Charming have gotten up to reach the windows and look out, searching the roofs for a sign of danger or whatever monstrosity caused this. Emma keeps still and quiet, however, for she has noticed the brunette's strange look. She knows. Whatever it was, Regina knows.

"What is it?" She tries, but the woman does not answer. Her eyes wide even further, the shiver lingering in her fingertips, reminding her of something that she would rather not have to recall.

"Regina?" Snow asks concerned at some point, having it too and making her stepmother realize she must be looking like a fool, for she stands up and storms out of the apartment.

"Wait!" Emma yells following her.

"Mom!" Henry exclaims too, but David stops him before he runs to.

"It's a'right. I'll handle it." Hook tries to assure them as he walks to the door.

* * *

His people laugh, and they celebrate, and they dance around the fire. The golden locks of his goddaughter seem like flames from the distance, bewitchingly. It may be not Sherwood Forest, but he likes it.

"Robin..." his wife whispers, reaching the top of the stairs to their treehouse.

"My love." He replies, trying to sound joyful and failing. "I've seen you talking to Mulan, is everything alright?"

"I-I was giving her Aurora's regards."

"You've been to the town? When? Why? Did something happen?" he worries all of a sudden, turning to look at her, searching in her eyes. She smiles softly and shakes her head.

"Nothing to worry about. I wanted Jiminy's advice but he wasn't there."

"Where was he?" Robin relaxes, letting his hands down her arms.

"With Princess Leia —Emma, the Sheriff." She corrects herself, frowning. Marian is still trying to figure that out. "Aurora told me, so I talked to her."

Robin is not the type of man who needs to control his wife, so he just smiles and nods, and then hugs her. He does not care what she needed to talk with the cricket about because it is none of his concern. She, his wife, must be the one wanting to share.

"Why aren't you down there with the rest of your men?" She rubs his back.

"I'm not feeling well." And Marian knows it is not a lie. He has not been feeling well for a while now.

"I know, my love. But they need you."

"They do not. I give them enough. It is you, and Roland, who I should really care about. In this world... there is nothing to fight or steal for." The leader of the Merry Men lowers his gaze to the floor.

"You've spent the morning with the Evil Queen's son and your goddaughter. You're not giving yourself fully to them."

"How do you know I...?"

"I saw you."

There is no reproach in her eyes, but a loving smile. And he kisses her for that, for caring for him even when his head is spinning around confusingly.

"Robin?" she says once their kiss is broken.

"Tell me."

"May I ask you something?" the doubt in her voice and the fret in her eyes thaws his heart.

"Ask away."

"Will you answer sincerely?"

"Of course."

"Do you still love her?"

He falls silent and walks away, back to the window that shows him what his people are doing. Only Goldilocks remains dancing around the fire. The others prefer to drink.

"You promised you would answer, sincerely." The maid reminds him, stopping next to him and placing a hand over his shoulder.

"I... don't know." Robin sighs in a hurt whisper. He closes his eyes and lets his head rest in his hands. "I don't know." She breaths and says nothing. "I just... I do, and then I don't."

"What do you mean?"

"Marian," he turns to her, his face wet with tears, "I love you. I love you, everyday, every _second_."

"You whisper her name in your sleep." She confesses. "Is it... True Love?"

"It was." He nods, incapable of looking at her. "But now there's a _hole _in my heart. I remember things and... sometimes I do love her, but then it turns to hate. And the rest of the time it is just... void. I feel nothing. But you," he takes her by the shoulders, softly, and whispers, "you I love everyday of my life. You are the one I want to be with, Marian."

"I know." She smiles. "I never doubted that."

"Then why did you ask?" he wonders, confused.

"I talked with Aurora. She told me things about... _her_. She's told me how she changed things, how she saved you all. And then I realized."

"What did you realized?"

"Why you loved her. And now I'm relieved to know you have not changed. You saw good in her as you saw it in me. And that's okay. I was just a number in her slaughter. It could have been anyone else. You should not hate her for that."

"But..."

"Robin, I know." She whispers, cupping his cheeks in her hands. "I know you're not going back to her."

"I love you."

"You'll forget her. Everything will be alright. You just have to give it _time_."

And as she kisses him the earth shakes.

"Robin." Marian calls him, pointing to a bright light in the horizon as the people below them look for danger. "Fire."

"Everyone!" Her husband calls. "Something's happened in the town, they may need our help. Grab your weapons. Someone stay with the children, the rest come with me!"

* * *

There was food and candles and the atmosphere was perfect for a romantic dinner at their home. But the evening goes by and now the food is cold and the candles' light off, and Belle is nowhere to be seen. Rumplestilskin has waited and waited. Magic can only do so much for cold dinner without properly enchanting it, something he has promised himself he would not do. Dark magic is what he does, it could only lead to disaster. There is no enchanted supper with dark magic known to have had good outcomes. He would rather not risk it.

When she called to say that she would be late for dinner, he didn't expect her to be _this _late. But she is. And something inside his chest is beginning to die as the fear creeps up his veins. What if she knows? What if something has happened? She may have had an accident, maybe she fainted and a car run over her. What if Regina has decided to take it against him by kidnapping her? He reaches for the phone, calmly, and checks the income box once again. Nothing. There could be a message trying to get in, or maybe about to. With this technological things one can never know.

He sighs and lets his arm fall to his side. He is trying to control himself. Belle must be alright. She is not picking up, so she is surely just driving her way back home. She could have forgotten something at the cabin and that is why it is taking her so long.

Yes, most probably, that is what happens.

But then the ground shakes, something explodes, a growl coming from the depths of hell scratches the skies.

And, somehow, he knows. He knows that finally one of his worst fears has found its way out of its lair, crawling up to the sunlight and bringing along all the other fears he has worked so carefully to bury. Belle just happens to be in the middle of its crosshairs, just because she is related to him. And that is his worst fear. Her, getting hurt because she loves him. Because he lied to her.

And now _she _has her. He is sure. He does not want to believe it, but he is sure. Regina he could handle, but this woman?.

Mr Gold grabs his keys and limps to his car, all his guesses ending in the worst case scenario.

* * *

The former Mayor's figure is hurrying down the stairs, a sight Emma is able to catch by luck. She quickly follows her down, barely hearing the muttered complains the brunette is letting out as she climbs down.

"Where are you going? What's going on?" When Emma reaches her, Regina is stopping by her Bug, uneasy.

"Miss Swan, good." She turns to her. Her eyes blaze with a fury the blonde has only heard about in Henry's book. Emma has to admit it is quite scary. "Drive."

"Wait, you haven't explained —" She starts, confused, but before she can end it she finds herself in the driving seat, Regina to her right.

"— what's going on."

"To the library."

"Is everything alright?" she gives in, taking control of the Bug and hitting the road.

Seldom a minute has passed when Regina is unable to control herself any longer. She explodes.

"You couldn't help it, could you? You had to destroy _everything _I ever worked for!"

"What? What the hell are you talking about, Regina?"

A muffled '_hey!_' sounds behind them. The pirate, the Queen sees in the driving mirror through her screaming. She rolls her eyes, exasperated, as she makes him appear in the back seat.

"My curse, my son, my family, my happiness, even my past! You're just like your parents! You can't stand seeing me _happy_!"

The captain looks around light-headed, surprised by the sudden change in the motion and speed of his body letting out a yelp. He is not ready to cope with the conversation taking place.

"And the worst part of it all is that I actually _believed_ for a moment that you did not mean any harm, that I could trust you, maybe forgive you. I should have killed you all when I had my chance!"

"Wow, wow, wow, stop it right there!"

"Is it worth it? Putting Henry through all this danger just to see me suffer, is it _worth _it?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about!"

"Of course you do not, you are just another Charming dumb head, aren't you? That is certainly what you are. From the moment you came back with that all 'I'm back from the past!' tale, I _knew. _But I trusted you. I should have not. Now accelerate."

"Wha—?" The blonde is hardly looking to the road.

"I said _accelerate_!"

And the former Evil Queen does a throwing motion with both her hands, the Bug's speed increases, giving Emma just a second to be conscious of the car in front of her disappearing. The loud, strike sound left behind them indicates that it has reappeared, somewhere.

"Did you just puffed someone out of our way? Seriously, Regina, you may believe it or not, but there are _rules _for driving in this town! This is precisely why we can't have you as a Mayor, you're _nuts._"

"Then I'm guessing bringing back one of the few most dangerous weapons in all the worlds by changing my past is far more suitable for a Mayor? Maybe you should apply for it, after all."

"I-I what!? Like, what!?"

"Is there any other word in your vocabulary?" she asks dryly, puffing another car out of the road.

"Stop doing that!"

"They're save!" she exhales exhasperated. "Now hurry. Rumplestilskin must be waiting for us already."

Regina has used Mr Gold's first name. Emma can't recall a moment where she has, so it must be serious stuff. Dangerous enough to make Regina fear for their child. It starts kicking in, the fear, the cold shivers.

"What... what have I done?" She dares to ask two seconds later, feeling that the former Mayor has calmed down enough. The woman doesn't answer to the question, however.

"Let me be clear, Miss Swan. If anything ever happens to Henry because of your stupidity, if you ever do anything like this again, I'm killing you. I'm going to rip your heart _right out _and put you through the worst, bloodiest, most painful torture I can think of. One so terrible not even Snow White should be deserving of it. Is that clear?" The passion a sincerity in her words makes Emma's stomach turn and try to run away from her body. She only manages to stutter a weak '_yes_' before definitely shutting up and just driving.

* * *

"I hate Tuesday Poker Night." Dopey moans, dropping his cards in the table.

"Then why do you keep playing?" Sneezy asks, sneezing.

"Maybe... he doesn't want to be left out..." Bashfull offers, shyly.

"Yeah, sure." Grumpy growls, dropping his cards too.

"Is there something wrong, Leroy?" Doc asks, worried. "You don't seem like yourself."

" 's nothing..."

"You can tell us, we are your brothers." Happy smiles soothingly and the other dwarf lets out a sigh.

"Nova and I had an argument this afternoon. That's all."

The other dwarves share a concerned look. They know what their brother has been suffering of, some kind of sickness only humans and fairies, maybe other species too, are allowed to feel. Love, they call it. Dwarves don't love. They hatch, so there is no need for that. They work all day so there is no time for that. And yet their brother does. He does love and he does work and he does have time. They consider him a wonder.

"Are you grown men going to play? This is no playpen."

"_Granny..._" Red hisses in disapproval.

"What? I don't close my dinner once a week for nothing."

"You rob us every poker night, woman, relax." Grumpy grumbles, taking the deck to shuffle it.

He won't talk about it. Ruby sighs and lets her hand fall over his shoulder in a soft reassuring pat. It helps, she knows. The werewolf stares to each one of the other dwarves with a sad grimace, encouraging them to do something that could light up the mood.

"Hey, Rubs, why don't you make one of your wolf impressions, huh?" Dopey dare's to ask. Granny gives him _the _look and hi shys back into his seat, his ears going red.

The old woman is a hardcore player, the serious-face and whisky kind. The alter ego the curse gave her was not so different from her real persona, with the exception of having pushed her fondness for betting to the next step.

Ignoring her grandmother's look, Ruby growls nonetheless and the half-drunken dwarves clap. It even draws a small smile in Grumpy's face.

"Ruby!"

She does it again, now ending with a short howl and the little men cheer her. She takes a third and final try, standing up and preparing herself for the greater impression of a wolf she has ever made. She takes a deep breath and then lets out all her _wolf-power_, as they call it.

It is so great the dinner trembles.

"Woah, Rubs, I think you went too far on that one!"

"I don't think that was Red." Grumpy whispers, standing up, the old woman following her.

"Am I the only one to have heard an explosion?" Ruby asks, walking towards the windows. "Guys..."

"What is it?" Granny asks, right behind her. "Oh, good Lord..."

The seven little dwarves follow them outside. There is wood, books and paper everywhere, burning. There is so much that one would hardly believe it all belonged to the library, the building that is the heart of Storybrooke, burning like a torch out of Hell itself.

A yellow car yaws and storms through the street, some kind of purple smoke preventing it from destroying itself against a wall, a lamp or any remains from the library.

"Isn't that Emma's bug?" Doc asks.

The Bug yaws again and stops in front of the burning building. Three figures come out of it. Against the bright light, who they are is unmistakable.

"And Regina's with her, it seems." Ruby sighs.

Another car stops too near the Sheriff's personal one, this one belonging to a limbing figure that bursts out in a way the old car can barely bear.

"And there's the other Devil." Granny points out, turning to get back inside. "People is going to start coming here to see what happened. If those two are involved, it's best if we start taking care of the situation."

Oblivious to the dwarves and the people that is starting to look at them, Regina and Mr Gold meet in front of the burning library. The worry, the uneasiness, the spark of fear that rarely darkens their features are only signs of how messed up the situation is. They are somewhat angry but silent, the crackle of the flames is the only thing to be heard in such closeness.

Although Emma and Hook can not hear them nor understand for what seems like an eternity, they must be talking through their eyes, for their grimaces keep changing. It is only a second, though, before they explode into a confusing succession of agitated comments.

"Did you give it back to her?" Regina's voice is calm and defiant but Rumplestilskin is immune to her bossiness.

"Of course not." He replies, something close to sorrow and desperation crossing his face now and then. "Maybe you did." His eyes narrow.

"How do you dare! I'm not the own who challenged her."

"But you were the one to bring her in."

"If you had let me handle it, as I told you I —"

"You were not ready!" He shouts.

The stare at each other for a moment, weighing their oponent even if they have for a million times now.

"You know I was." The Queen calmly states after that, straightening herself. "But if you didn't give it to her, and I didn't either, she must have happened to come across one too."

"As far as we know, her list was incomplete." Mr Gold replies, exhaling through his nose and grabing his cane with both his hands.

"She didn't know how to get them all anyways." Regina nods. "And she just gave up, eventually. Unless... " Suddenly, she turns to Emma. "Now, think carefully, Miss Swan," her voice is controlled, yet it trembles slightly with anger, "did you change _anything _else? Something you haven't told us about it?" she points to herself and Mr Gold, they are both eating her alive with their eyes. In a bad way.

"I-I don't know."

"Think!" Mr Gold pushes, taking a step. Hook steps in the middle too, daring him to threat his girlfriend.

"We told you everything." Hook states.

"The minor of the details can be of the greatest importance." Regina reminds them.

It takes her three seconds to snap inside her mind with something, as she goes over and over the days she spent with the pirate captain in the Enchanted Forest.

"Dark fairy dust!" she exclaims.

"We knew about that, Miss Swan."

"No, I mean. Snow didn't have the dust when she went to the bridge. The first time, I think, she used it to save David."

"And what about it?" Mr Gold asks, impatiently.

"They turned into cockroaches. With us, they didn't."

"Didn't your father accidentally crush one of them the first time?" her boyfriend asks, frowning.

"I think so." Emma nods.

And Regina tries really hard to restrain herself and not pinch her nose, because showing desperation is not really going to help right now.

"The troll was not killed. That's who she got it from." She realizes out loud even if Mr Gold knows too.

"What about it, either way?" Emma shrugs. "We take whatever it is back, we have her —whomever she is— arrested, jailed or whatever, and everything's right, right?"

"She has Belle." Mr Gold explains, something the former Evil Queen knows too.

"She's what!?" The blonde exclaims back.

"Of course she does. But what could that dragon possibly want with your girlfriend?"

"Have you forgotten after all this time?" The imp arches a brow towards her.

"Wait a moment. _Who_'s she again?" Hook asks.

"Maleficent." Emma, finally, has connected the dots. "But that doesn't make any sense. I killed her."

"I did too."

"She can't die as long as she is in this realm." Regina explains to the both of them. "She is the guardian of Storybrooke."

"So she is inmortal?"

"Aye..." Hook sighs, passing his hand through his hair. He has known that for a while now.

"Are you saying that there is a flamethrower inmortal dragon in our town and there's _nothing _we can do to stop it!?" Emma snaps.

"Do you _now _understand how far the range of your stupidity covers?" Regina snarls back, and she is looking to the both of them.

"And now she has the Dark One's dagger..." Emma continues, her eyes wide as plates. The thought sinks in and horror flies through her veins as she grows aware of the situation.

"Exactly." The former Mayor nods. Almost at the same time, they look at Mr Gold, waryly, prepared for any sudden attack.

He sighs.

"She doesn't. I lied." He admits, looking down. "I never gave Belle my dagger."

"So Maleficent doesn't hold any power over you?"

"No."

"_Thank God_!" Emma lets out a relieved sigh, bending her knees and passing both her hands through her hair as she walks around, letting the sudden adrenaline out of her system.

"I _knew _it, I just _knew _it! I _knew _you would not gave your power away like that. You are a coward, and you will always be one." Regina points his finger to him.

"I guess Granny's gonna pay me, then." Hook smiles to himself between her accusations. Emma stares at him, smiling a little.

"It's okay, we can fix this." Emma pushes them away from the building to let the firemen take care of the fire. "We just have to find her, stab her with my father's sword again and it all will be over."

"You really don't get it, do you?" Regina barks. "It is different now because of _you_."

"Why is it different? We still have a _freaking dragon _missing!"

"Because she has magic now!" The other woman stresses.

"I highly doubt she's in her dragon form, anyway." Hook comments, both women turning to look at him. "Dragons are huge, we'd have already seen 'er. Has anyone?" It is a rhetorical question.

"And she is still recovering. We have a couple of days, three at most." Adds Mr Gold.

"Good, that gives us a shot. Is there anything else I should know about this dragon you had trapped in your basement before I go hunting?"

"You brought _a dragon_ with you?" Robin fumes as he arrives with his Merry Men and Women behind, startling the small group. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?"

"She's got some balls, you gotta give her that." Leroy snorts before the former Mayor can, nearing them too.

"I did what needed to be done." The woman states diplomatically, folding her arms.

"Clearly out of insanity." The thief snarls.

"At least it is not my stupidity which gave that woman the weapon she needed to kill us all." The woman replies looking straight at Emma accusingly.

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!"

"Why? Just because she brought your wife back?"

"_Yes_. The thing I love most and only." And it is clear to everyone that last sentence could have gone uncommented if he had wanted to, but it is meant to hurt the former Evil Queen.

"I'm glad you acknowledge the Savior's doing," his exgirlfriend replies nonetheless, "that way you won't blame it on me too when _her _doing kills that woman you so much claim to love!"

"Is that a threat!?"

"Guys! This is not the place." Emma sighs. People is beginning notice the group and the yelling, and they are nearing. "Let's pretend this was a gas explosion, 'kay? We don't need them to panic." She searchs Mr Gold's aprovement in this one as he seems the only cool minded at the moment.

"I don't care how you do it, Sheriff. Find Belle." He replies before turning to limp to his car.

That was of no help at all.

"Let's go to the station." She sighs again.

"I agree." Regina says as she turns to follow the pawnbroker, passing by her side with not even a look.

"Do we wait for you too?" Emma tries looking at the thieves' leader.

Robin nodes after a second, giving in. " ' course." He replies before turning in the other direction.

"Leroy, take care of the situation here. If anyone asks..."

"I know, sister."

"Thank you."

"Hey!" he calls before the Sheriff can flee towards a very exhasperated woman waiting by her car.

"What?"

"You're gonna have to pay me soon enough, you know? Beers aren't cheap."

"Is this you taking the deputy job I offered you?" the blonde smiles.

" 'course not!"

But he is, kind of, and she smiles. He winks at her before letting her go.

* * *

The room was dark, barely illuminated by the sun for the windows were covered in crimson and entrails. It was cold too, the witch made sure a breeze came in every now and then to keep the smell away and the temperature cool enough for their wounds not to sting.

Not that he could feel it, most of his skin was missing already.

He was hanging by the wall, his hands trapped in shackles. The bottom of his body did not reach the floor, he did not have legs to be trailed. Wearily, the man confronted her eyes one more time. She wiped the blood of her mouth off with her wrist, showing him a smile full of fangs. Sharp iron teeth waited behind lush lips, her young appearance only showing up from her waist. Below it, nothing remained but bones. She had lived for centuries, so the tales told. Long blonde blood-stained locks fell to her thighs, dancing bewitchingly around her body like flames. One could think it prepared to enchant young men into her chambers, but she made no distinction at all. Her ways were far from painful, for it was her mercy what made the torture so difficult to endure.

He had begged her to end his life countless times until she had finally ripped out his vocal cords, and now the only begging he was allowed to do was deep inside his mind to the Heavens to take him away.

"I'm so glad, Charles, that we get to enjoy this time together..." She sighed with such a cute voice that he felt the urge to vomite, but the Twisted Witch's magic would not allow that. "You're being one of my best inmates."

Someone knocked in the door and it seemed to cheer her, as she stood with a jump.

"Look, Charles! Visits!" she clapped running towards the wood frame.

_Can someone be that insane to come and visit the Twisted Witch?_, he wondered, letting out a muffled sigh. It seemed his torture would be postponed for a while.

The door opened and a couple entered the hut. The woman dressed fancy, her clothes could only be compared to those of Queens but her face showed no mercy. The man's, on the contrary, were more of a magician.

"Baba Yaga, deariest!" The man grinned, bowing before the Twisted Witch with a wicked smile of his own and kissing her hand. "You look better than ever."

"Rumplestilskin!" The witch sighed. "Who's this?" She added upon noticing the regal woman.

"This is Regina," he introduced, "my apprentice and Queen of the Enchanted Forest."

So he was right, the woman with the bloodlust gaze was a Queen.

"Is this the one who's gonna cast my curse?" Baba Yaga asked, intrigued, studying the apprentice from head to toe. Rumplestilskin nodded. "I love your dress! Fancy!" The witch burst.

"Thank you." The Queen Regina replied diplomatically, bowing her head. "I like your... bony legs." Her master threw her a warning look but Baba Yaga did not seem offended at all. In fact, she looked about to cry of happyness.

"Really? Thank you! Not many appreciate my style."

"Well, dear, I'm sure not many appreciate the vicissitudes and beauty of a bloody killing quite as we do." The Queen bend a little, confidently, and winked at her.

"She's perfect, Rumple!" The witch cried.

_Perfect. A psychotic maniac wasn't enough, now there's two of them._

Baba Yaga walked towards the dinning table, offering them a seat which they politely declined. Charles could not blame them, he would have not stained such delicate clothes with his own guts either.

"We apologize for intruding your lunch, my dear." Rumplestilskin apologized noticing the plate of fresh meat she had been seating in front of when they arrived.

"Don't worry about it, is not often I have visits, right, Charles?" she looked directly at the man hanging by the wrists in the wall and the poor prey agreed with a shake of his head.

The Queen's eyed widened at him in horror much to Charles surprise, but she masked it quickly enough so Baba Yaga would not see it. The woman was not that heartless, he supposed. And the witch was not torturing her. Could it be? Could he wake enough compassion to be saved?

_I must be dreaming._

"I see..." the apprentice began, clearing her throath. "May I ask why have you taken his entrails, but not his heart?" She asked.

"She's so direct, I like her..." The witch smiled at Rumplestilskin. "You see, my love," she smiled at Regina, "enchanted hearts serve only for so much. What I need of them is not control nor life..."

"Life?" The Queen wondered, surprised, looking back at her tutor. The man did not give signs of understanding either.

"It's okay if I show her?"

"Enlighten us." He pleaded.

Baba Yaga walked towards the living corpse in the wall and with swift movement she took his heart.

"Don't be surprise by his lack of whimps, my dears. He has no vocal cords to complain," the witch smiled, "nor has he suffered."

"Is that possible?" Regina was clearly shocked.

"With magic everything is possible. But what are the advantages, you may ask, if the subject does not suffer upon removing their hearts? You see, honey, one must give willingly their hearts for love to be born. Love is the greatest sickness one may face, but it also gives life. Used properly, you could live forever..." she smiled, putting back the vital organ inside her pet's body, "... or bring back a loved one from the dead."

But she was not showing them, and that much was clear.

"Other enchanted organs may be of help too, the ordeals witches and wizards like ourselves may find themselves in are unsurprisingly surprisingly complicated." The witch laughed. Her intricate way of speaking could be confusing sometimes. She often spoke for herself, diving into complex inner jokes that the world could and would not understand.

"Should we start with our current ordeal, then?" she was going to sit in front of her plate when she noticed the look in Regina's eyes.

They were fixed in Charles, reading from his lips. She could not hide her distress as he articulated '_do you like how my veins hang from my thighs, Regina?_', trying to make her mercy him, or maybe offend her enough to ask for his execution.

"Is my pet disturbing you, Regina?" She asked, worried.

"I'm sorry, I am just not accustomed to..." The Queen tried in vain to explain herself under the angry gaze of the magician.

"It's alright, my dear, I'm taking it as a compliment." She smiled sweetly. "Some days I can't bare to look at him myself. I'm sure you would make me just as disgusted with one of your prisoners. I hope you invite me to one day, once our matter together is over. Until then, let me fix this one for you."

Baba Yaga approached the hanging man, her teeth showing with bloodlust. "I was waiting for this, but I don't want to offend my guests, Charles. I'm sorry. I promise you, this won't hurt."

The Twisted Witch's hands neared Charles' face, who tried to escape from them. It was in vain, for she had already got a grip of his head and her sharp nails were digging into his skull, tearing his flesh, seeking to retrieve his eyeballs. He shuddered in terror and wished to be able cry.

And as the world definitely turned into a black abysm, he begged once more for his dead. Because, you see, the terrible thing about Baba Yaga's tortures was not the pain. It was the lack of it. Being bound to watch your body being slowly mutilated, limb by limb, until there is barely nothing. Not really knowing why is it happening, that is the worst torture.

* * *

**_Thank your for reading!_**

**_P.S.: You keep this alive ^^_**


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